Bonuses & Additional Compensation

It's strange that in a "down-economy" we would be reading stories like this one. Oprah gave out $10,000 checks and Ipads to her Magazine staff to celebrate the 10th anniversary. The current gig that I have going has stopped doing additional compensation because of the down economy, and they have no intention of re-instating this policy at the end of the year.

While I was unemployed, I did take a significant pay cut to work at this joint. Last month we had our highest month ever, and the trend looks like it's going to continue to go up. This is a good thing, so you'd think they would want to reward their employees by offering them perks for sticking with them during the tough times.

What's your thoughts on this subject?