“My work is doing a potato bar as our Christmas bonus,” said a Dec.
11 X post from user @amandajapanda, also listed as Amanda B. “I’m literally getting a hospital potato as a bonus.”
As of Wednesday evening, the post had nearly 2.7 million views and 48,000 likes. It even went viral on another app, TikTok, according to Amanda.
In her tweet thread, she said that her employer also “said it has a $15 value so it will be taxed on our next check.”
“This is my Charlie Brown villain origin story,” the user said, adding that she was considering bringing Tupperware to load up on sour cream. However, even that plan would have been foiled.
She revealed that the employees could not opt out and that the toppings were put on the potatoes for them. While this “bonus” seems particularly cumbersome, Amanda’s frustration is likely familiar to many.
A more well-known version of the potato bar might be the pizza party, a tradition so eye-rolled that it has become a meme. On Know Your Meme, the featured meme has four panels showing a hand sinking into the water. It seems like someone (identified as a manager) high fiving the hand and saying “Pizza Party!” instead of helping it from drowning.
Moneycontrol also reported on the pizza party tradition this April.
“Offering pizzas is the last thing an employee wants for a milestone that is purely monetary. What about cash rewards? At least shopping coupons,” said Priya Gupta, someone who had been through the pizza-party experience.
Amit Sharma, an HR leader in a multinational IT consulting firm said businesses should consider just giving employees a cash bonus in most cases.
“If a pizza party is for engagement with no clear objectives, it is a waste of money. Just pay the cash. But if it serves a purpose then they should consider it,” Sharma said, according to Moneycontrol.
One expert cited by the outlet shared why some companies may still offer pizza (or potato) parties.
“Employers may skip cash or other tangible rewards because they may not have the same emotional impact as a shared experience like a pizza party,” said said Cheta Gogia, CHRO of e-commerce enablement platform Gokwik.
According to survey results released this year by Upflip, a majority of people think a Christmas bonus equal to a week’s pay is adequate. Results also found that 71% of bonuses come as cash or one-time paycheck bumps and that 51% of companies planned to give Christmas bonuses in 2023.
As for the X poster and their potato (they shared a photo here)? They joked Wednesday that they would be interested in job offers.