It's traditionally Black Friday in the US today, with big sales kicking off the Christmas season. This year, many companies have taken different approaches, with the pandemic and separation. Plenty of online training from SQL experts has been on sale and available, and there are certainly other deals to be had.

I recently ran across a list on 10 tech holiday gifts that will delight your employees. I don't know that I want any of these, and some of these are quite extravagant for an employee gift. At least, it feels that way to me.

Today, I'm wondering if there is something you wish your employer would give you this holiday season, other than a bonus. Is there some tech gift that you'd appreciate?

I used to manage technical people. At different times in my career, I've had different size teams, but I always made it a point to give a small gift at Christmas to my staff. I appreciated their efforts and work, and I felt it was important to let them know. I never gave big gifts, usually setting a limit of US$20-25 per person. With some teams as large as 12, this wasn't inexpensive.

I did make an effort to think about each person, and get something slightly tailored to them. Usually I had some theme, and people got similar gifts, but with a bit of personalization. These days, I don't manage people, but I do help my wife get gifts together for her clients.

Let me know today if you think there is anything you'd like, and feel free to forward this to your management. Maybe they'll take the hint.