Employees in FMCG, manufacturing may get higher Diwali bonus this year

A survey by staffing firm CIEL HR found that almost 58 percent of about 160 participants from the manufacturing segment will hand out Diwali bonuses this year. (Illustration by Suneesh Kalarickal)

Diwali may turn out to be extra-sparkling for employees in fast moving consumer goods and manufacturing companies, with staffing firms and human resource consultants anticipating bonus payments of as much as 20 percent of their monthly salaries.

A survey by staffing firm CIEL HR found that almost 58 percent of about 160 participants from the manufacturing segment will hand out Diwali bonuses this year. However, manufacturing companies may cap the bonuses at less than Rs 10,000, experts said.

“Festive bonuses are a common practice in manufacturing companies, with typical bonus amounts averaging between Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000,” said Santhosh Nair, director of CIEL HR.

A bonus is extra money that companies give workers as a reward for hard work. However, giving Diwali bonuses to every employee is not mandatory as per the law. There are certain criteria that make an employee eligible to get a bonus, but beyond that, it's left to the company’s discretion.

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“Due to significant business recovery and an increase in profits for companies in India, employers are likely to offer higher bonuses this year in comparison to the last few festive seasons,” Yeshab Giri, chief commercial officer - staffing & RT at Randstad India, told Moneycontrol.

Randstad, a staffing and HR firm, predicts the average bonus from FMCG/retail and e-commerce sectors will be 12 to 20 percent of monthly remuneration.

Fewer bonuses

Genius Consultants said the banking sector has performed well and can be expected to give out an average bonus of about 12 percent of employees’ monthly remuneration this Diwali.

However, given the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, India's IT companies are scaling back their traditional bonus structures. This shift is a direct response to the sector’s underperformance in the face of global challenges.

“Most of the companies that are showing negative growth might not opt for giving bonuses at all this year,” said RP Yadav, CMD of Genius Consultants.

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Analysts said startups, especially those that let go of employees over the past eight months, may opt to give non-financial incentives such as professional training, remote work flexibility, health and wellness programmes, and employee recognition to maintain morale and motivate their workforce.

“Most companies will continue to reward employees during this festive period in the traditional form of gift hampers, gift cards, sweets, and dry fruit boxes with values ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000,” said Kartik Narayan, CEO of staffing at TeamLease Services.

Employees in the education sector may have to wait until next year for a bonus. CIEL HR’s survey showed that only 7 percent of the participants from the education sector were in favour of Diwali bonuses.

“The reason behind this could be budget constraints or different priorities within the education sector, such as allocating resources for educational purposes rather than bonuses for employees,” Nair said.