In the season of giving, businesses heckled by the slowdown are bringing back the extra payouts they were miserly with not so long ago.

Companies straddling consulting, FMCG, durables, pharmaceuticals and head-hunting, among others, are doling out annual bonuses to employees, encouraged by the sharp uptick in business

since April and heeding to the subsequent return to a vibrant job market.

“The war for talent is getting intense. Companies are under pressure to not only get, but also retain quality talent,” says Dhananjay Bansod, chief people officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

Besides Deloitte, PepsiCo, LG Electronics, Samsung, Lupin Pharmacuticals, Ericsson, Paris-based accounting and consultancy firm Mazars and headhunter EMA Partners International of London are all planning to return to their rewarding ways this year-end.

Bonuses, typically linked to the performances of both individuals and companies, are set at 15-40% of annual salaries. By that reckoner, juniors are likely to get Rs 50,000-2 lakh while seniors may be richer by Rs 30-50 lakh this year-end.

Durables major LG Electronics, which follows a quarterly bonus system, gave 200% of the basic monthly salary as bonus to its employees in November. The company is planning another round, at 200-700% of the basic, in January.

Year-end bonuses, timed with Christmas celebrations, are a norm in the international corporate world, where companies usually follow the January-December financial cycle. In India, most MNC subsidiaries follow the calendar year and pay bonuses in January or February.

“The payout will depend not only on the India business performance, but also on the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) businesses,” says Pavan Bhatia, HR executive director, PepsiCo India.

“Many global financial institutions are looking to give out much better bonuses than last year. These could be anywhere between 50-100% of their variable component,” says Executive Access partner Charul Madan.