Year-end bonus expectations hit an 18-year high yes123: 86% of workers have experienced unfair performance appraisals

yes123 job search website recently conducted a "year-end bonus expectation and self-evaluation performance survey"

[Reporter Li Jinghui/Taipei Report] The Chinese Academy of Economics has revised up its forecast for this year’s economic growth rate (GDP) for the third time to 12.16%. With economic growth so impressive, will the boss be more generous in giving year-end bonuses? According to the latest survey by yes123 job search website, as of October 14, 72% of companies have determined that they will pay year-end bonuses next year, which is the second highest level in eight years. However, the amount paid is not significantly higher than last year. Workers’ expectations for next year’s year-end bonuses have reached an 18-year high, but nearly 1 in 4 workers still do not claim to receive them at the end of the year. Nearly 70% of workers said they would consider leaving if future bonuses are not as expected.

Entering the fourth quarter, yes123 job search website recently conducted a "year-end bonus expectation and self-evaluation performance survey". The survey results show that 72.2% of companies are determined to issue year-end bonuses before the Lunar New Year, which is the second highest level in eight years. However, there are still 5.6% of companies that are "determined not to issue year-end bonuses". "Bonuses", and another 22.2% have not yet determined whether they will be distributed at the end of the year. However, yes123 interprets the data and believes that the wait-and-see atmosphere of companies will be slightly reduced this year. However, as to how many bonuses will be issued, nearly 70% (68.7%) said "the same", 16.3% "increased", and 15% still predicted that it would "decrease".

In comparison, employees have higher expectations for year-end bonuses. The survey shows that 75.3% of office workers expect to receive year-end bonuses before the Lunar New Year next year, which is higher than last year's 72.7%. Regarding the "expectation value" of year-end bonuses, the average estimate is 1.14 months, a slight increase of 0.1 month (3 days) compared with 1.04 months in last year's survey, and a new high in the 18 years since the survey was conducted. Once the final year-end bonus received was not as expected, nearly 70% (68.8%) of office workers expressed the attitude of "considering leaving their job".

The power over year-end bonuses lies in the hands of immediate supervisors and bosses. This survey shows that up to 86.2% of workers have experienced "unfair" year-end performance appraisals by their bosses, but only 30% (30.3%) reported or complained to their bosses.

Employees may not be convinced of their professional abilities by their superiors and bosses who "rate" them every year. This survey found that office workers gave an average of 59.2 points to the "leadership and control (management) ability" of their immediate superiors (supervisors), slightly lower than last year's 59.9 points. In comparison, the average score for the boss's "work professional ability" is 79.2 points, which is regarded as positive. When evaluating their boss's "ability to run a business," employees gave the "bosses" an average of 70.8 points this year, slightly higher than last year's 70.1 points.

The "Year-end Bonus Expectations and Self-Evaluation Performance Appraisal Survey" was conducted by yes123 Job Search Network from October 1 to October 14, 2026, using an online questionnaire to conduct a sample survey. It surveyed full-time employees who are 20 years old (inclusive) and above, have graduated or completed service (exempted from service), and are currently employed, with more than one year of work experience. There are a total of 1,338 valid questionnaires, with a confidence level of 95% and an error value of plus or minus 2.68%. There are 1,106 valid enterprise questionnaires, with a confidence level of 95% and an error value of plus or minus 2.95%.