Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/research-trends/whistle-research-finds-150-billion-spent-annually-on-non-payroll-disburs-15fc20195bd9/ --- description: A 2022 supplier survey put average monthly non-payroll disbursements at $774 per manager, spanning gifts, expenses and incentives. title: Whistle research highlights the admin burden of small employee rewards image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/whistle-research-highlights-admin-burden-small-employee-rewards-f929dad1c4398d2908e9460a9e49f560.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) # Whistle research highlights the admin burden of small employee rewards A 2022 supplier survey put average monthly non-payroll disbursements at $774 per manager, spanning gifts, expenses and incentives. By [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) May 27, 2022 2 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fwhistle-research-finds-150-billion-spent-annually-on-non-payroll-disburs-15fc20195bd9%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Whistle%20research%20highlights%20the%20admin%20burden%20of%20small%20employee%20rewards "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fwhistle-research-finds-150-billion-spent-annually-on-non-payroll-disburs-15fc20195bd9%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Whistle%20research%20highlights%20the%20admin%20burden%20of%20small%20employee%20rewards%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fwhistle-research-finds-150-billion-spent-annually-on-non-payroll-disburs-15fc20195bd9%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Whistle’s research artwork showing small employee payments and a $150 billion estimate](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/whistle-research-highlights-admin-burden-small-employee-rewards-s-artwork-showing-payments-w800.webp) Whistle’s 2022 research artwork. The headline amount is the supplier’s extrapolated estimate for gifts, expenses and rewards combined. Photo: Whistle [Whistle](https://giftcard.news/company/whistle/) reported on May 27, 2022 that US people managers in its research spent an average of $774 a month on non-payroll disbursements. The category included gifts, small expenses and rewards, rather than gift cards alone. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) ## A spending estimate with a defined scope The supplier extrapolated that average across an assumed 16 million US managers to describe an annual market of roughly $150 billion. Multiplying the stated inputs produces $148.6 billion. This is an extrapolation from the supplier’s research, not an independently measured national expenditure total. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Scroll left or right to see all columns __A spending estimate with a defined scope__ | Manager-reported issue | Share reported by Whistle | | ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | | Staying within budget | 56% | | Delay in receiving funds | 47% | | Employees preferring cash to cards or items | 47% | | Tracking expenditure | 46% | The data behind the story ### Problems managers reported with small disbursements Shares reported in Whistle’s May 2022 research account. Managers % Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. **Source:** [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Whistle research account Supplier-reported research. Sample size, fieldwork dates and weighting were not disclosed in the article. Categories are not parts of one total. Explore the data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __Problems managers reported with small disbursements (%)__ | Category | Managers | | -------------------- | -------- | | Budget control | 56% | | Funding delay | 47% | | Preference for cash | 47% | | Tracking expenditure | 46% | ## What the evidence can establish The published article does not disclose sample size, fieldwork dates or weighting. It also reflects managers’ accounts of employee preferences, rather than a separate poll of employees. The percentages are useful as a description of the supplier’s findings, with those limits kept visible. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The operational question is broader than which reward to buy. Small amounts can still create substantial administrative work when funding, approval and reporting happen in separate places. A programme can therefore be inexpensive per recipient while remaining awkward to run. For a gift-card buyer, that suggests evaluating the surrounding process as well as the catalog. Budget ownership, a record of each disbursement and a clear handover to the recipient are measurable operating requirements. The survey does not show that changing the reward alone will improve retention or performance. ## Sources and documents ExpandCollapse * [\[S01\] Company announcement](https://wewhistle.com/the-150-billion-industry-no-one-likes/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — wewhistle.com ## In this article ### Companies * [Whistle](https://giftcard.news/company/whistle/) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fwhistle-research-finds-150-billion-spent-annually-on-non-payroll-disburs-15fc20195bd9%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Whistle%20research%20highlights%20the%20admin%20burden%20of%20small%20employee%20rewards "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fwhistle-research-finds-150-billion-spent-annually-on-non-payroll-disburs-15fc20195bd9%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Whistle%20research%20highlights%20the%20admin%20burden%20of%20small%20employee%20rewards%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fwhistle-research-finds-150-billion-spent-annually-on-non-payroll-disburs-15fc20195bd9%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [MENA’s Digital Gift Card Markets: A Country-by-Country Research Atlas](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/mena-digital-gift-card-markets/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 18, 2026 66 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [India’s Digital Gift Card Market: Growth, Consumers and Regulation](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/india-digital-gift-card-market/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 18, 2026 30 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) Analysis ### [AI Can Shop for You. Can It Spend Your Gift Cards?](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/ai-can-shop-for-you-can-it-spend-your-gift-cards/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 17, 2026 17 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/#person","name":"Suzie Elis","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/","description":"Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Suzie Elis editorial profile."}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/whistle-research-highlights-admin-burden-small-employee-rewards-s-artwork-showing-payments.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/whistle-research-highlights-admin-burden-small-employee-rewards-s-artwork-showing-payments.webp","width":800,"height":418,"caption":"Whistle’s 2022 research artwork. 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