More employers paying year-end bonuses

Getting a little something extra in your stocking this holiday season?

Not from the family. From the boss.

Lots of workers are.

A survey of HR execs shows 72 percent of employers plan on offering some kind of year-end bonus to their employees.

Of note: That’s way up from last year when only 53 percent did.

In addition, 17 percent of employers said they’ll reward certain workers with performance bonuses.

So what’s with all the generosity?

“Many companies enjoyed increased profits this year, along with increased productivity,” said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the outplacement consulting firm that conducted the survey of about 100 human resources pros.

“The fact that they achieved that without a rapid acceleration in hiring or capital investment means that existing employees were asked to deliver better results with fewer resources,” he added. “Even with many companies still not enjoying pre-recession business levels, it is clear, at least among our small sampling of employers, that they are duly recognizing the hard work and achievements of their workforce.”