Latest eFinancialCareers Poll Shows City Bonus Expectations Remain Ingrained

Against the backdrop of political pressure, public outrage and the steps now being taken by the FSA to control the Cityís bonus culture, the latest survey from eFinancialCareers, the UK-based global financial careers website, shows that attitudes amongst City professionals towards bonuses are not about to change overnight.

In a poll of 691 City professionals – including respondents from Barclays Capital, HSBC, RBS, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Credit Suisse - over two-thirds (68%) said they still expect to receive a bonus this year. 32% even believed their bonus should remain the same - or even rise - when compared to last year.

The most bullish attitudes were shown by professionals working in the Private Banking/Wealth Management and Corporate Banking sectors where nearly 48% and 43% of the respective respondents said they expected their bonuses to remain the same or increase.

However, a strong 32% seemed resigned to the fact they would receive no bonus. Not surprisingly, those working in Credit were the most downbeat – 50% expecting to see no bonus - followed by those working in Capital Markets (45%) and Hedge Funds (42%).

Turning away from bonuses, the eFinancialCareers survey also identified an underlying resilience amongst City workers regarding their job security and how far through the financial crisis we are.

Whilst 47% of the bankers polled believed we are still only 25%-50% through the crisis, 34% felt the worst is already behind us. Furthermore, following the recently announced redundancy rounds, a quarter of those polled (25%) believed there would be no additional cuts at their companies and another 39% expected to see anywhere between 75% and 99% of their fellow colleagues remaining with them this time next year. Only 5% believed there would be a full scale clear out.

Meanwhile, in a separate eFinancialCareersí poll of 592 City professionals, attitudes towards Hank Paulsonís failure to bail-out Lehman have hardened: 55% now believing it was wrong and that Lehmanís collapse precipitated the meltdown.

John Benson, CEO and founder of eFinancialCareers, commented:

ìMoving forward, flexibility is going to be a key asset for financial professionals – whether it be in terms of the financial sectors they focus on or geographic locations in which they work. Serious consideration will also have to be given by many on how they potentially transfer their skills to other industry sectors.î

Based on the response to the eFinancialCareers poll, though, contemplating a career change might prove difficult for many City professionals initially to stomach - 44% of respondents saying they who would grit their teeth and look for a job in the financial markets even if theyíd been out of work for six months.

Both eFinancialCareers polls of City professionals took place between 23rd September and 12th October 2008.