4 in 5 City workers say theyíll leave their job if they donít get the bonus they want this year
City more belligerent on bonuses than last year ñ despite high expectations in January 2006
Accountants take hard-line attitude ñ massive increase in number who say theyíll leave their firm if they donít get the bonus they want
With most of Londonís biggest banks in the process of announcing their bonuses, Financial Services recruiter Joslin Rowe has unveiled the results of this yearís bonus sentiment in the City. And while traders are as aggressive as ever, accountants have upset the survey with a stunningly belligerent attitude to their yearly bonuses.
CITY MORE AGGRESSIVE
Overall in the City, the percentage of employees prepared to stay in their current firm if their bonus does not live up to expectations has fallen. In total only 22% of employees said theyíd be prepared to stay in their current job this year. However, this time last year, 38% said they would stay.
The number of people prepared to take a proactive stance to improve their bonus has also fallen dramatically. In 2006 21% said in the event of a disappointing bonus theyíd stay in the same job but aim to improve their personal performance, hoping their boss would notice next year. 2007 saw a more laissez-faire attitude with only 10% committing to improve their performance.
Tara Ricks of Joslin Rowe said: ìWith the high expectations for bonuses this year, itís no surprise that some people in City are going to be demanding. But expectations were very high last year, despite the fact that bonus season turned out to be a bit of a damp-squib. This is still a very aggressive set of numbers with four in five City employees saying theyíll quit if they donít get the bonus theyíre after. There must be something in the water.î
Although some banks have announced their bonuses (Bear Sterns, Dresdner Kleinwort, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley), the majority will report theirs at the end of the month (Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, HSBC, SG, UBS) with staff not seeing the money until the end of February. Some of the late stragglers will announce in February (ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank) while Nomura will not announce its bonuses until April.
Tara Ricks, managing director of Joslin Rowe Associates said: ìAlthough some banks do start bonus season very early on ñ with Bear Stearns and Goldman being the earliest - most of the big banks have yet to announce their numbers. Everyone has rather jumped the gun on bonuses so far.î
CONFIDENT ACCOUNTANTS
However, the yearís shock finding came not from bankers but from a profession less associated with the big Christmas bonus. Accountants have emerged as far more aggressive than they have been in the past.
The results show that if they donít get the bonus they are after, 70% of Accountants surveyed will start looking for a new job that values their contributions more highly. Last year, only saw 43% said the same thing.
Tara Ricks concludes: ìAccountants are in a very strong position at the moment. They are massively in demand and, naturally, this is driving up their confidence. Weíve never seen such striking results from the bonus survey. You can forget the passive bean-counters stereotype. This year they are more likely to be feeling like City Slickers than grey number-crunchers.î
