NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - If you don't get a holiday bonus, don't feel bad. Most companies (63 percent) won't be offering them, according to human resources services firm Hewitt Associates.

Hewitt found that nearly half of all companies (46 percent) have never given a holiday bonus, while 16 percent have discontinued their programs.

Forty-three percent of those who stopped giving holiday bonuses have done so between 2000 and 2004. Among their reasons: cost, entitlement issues and development of pay-for-performance programs, also known as variable pay programs.

Today, 80 percent of companies use variable pay programs, up from 50 percent in 1995.

"Variable pay is designed to help employees concentrate on company goals and objectives, while eliminating 'entitlement' issues that often arise with a holiday bonus," Ken Abosch, a business leader at Hewitt, said in a statement.

Of the companies that will offer holiday bonuses, the majority plan to spend less than 1 percent of payroll on the awards:

• 37 percent will give cash, with a median bonus of $550 per employee; that's up from $300 last year.
• 49 percent will give retailer gift certificates, with a median value of $25, the same as in 2003.
• 21 percent will give food, such as a turkey or ham, with a median value of $25, up $5 from last year.

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But the budgeting for variable pay is far more generous, accounting for nearly 10 percent of payroll in 2005.

"They're clearly sending a message to employees that they will be rewarded for high performance," Abosch noted.