Saturday 03 July 2021 12:18 pm

Citigroup boosts base pay for junior bankers

Analysts, associates and programme vice-presidents to receive pay fillip

Junior investment bankers at American bank Citigroup are set to receive a pay boost, the firm announced on Friday.

In a memo distributed to staff yesterday, the bank said analysts, associates and programme vice-presidents working in the Wall Street firm’s banking, capital markets and advisory arm would receive the pay fillip from 1 July.

The move comes after rival JPMorgan Chase announced wage increases for its junior bankers.

Wall Street banks have been strengthening incentives for younger workers after junior staff reported poor mental wellbeing due to severe workloads since the onset of the pandemic.

A group of first-year analysts at Goldman Sachs leaked a presentation to senior staff stressing they had routinely been working 80-hour weeks over the last year, sometimes rising to 100-hour weeks during busy deal periods.

Recent research shows burnout is becoming a major problem in Canada, with banks and financial services firms possibly facing labour shortages if they fail to change working practices to account for younger workers’ wellbeing.

Up to 70 per cent of analysts and associate teams left their role at banks and financial institutions in recent months, despite firms stepping up their efforts to retain young talent.

Companies have offered wage top ups of up to 20 per cent and one-off bonuses of almost $40,000. But, this is having little impact on junior staffers’ decision to leave.

Wall Street banks have come down harder on asking staff to return to the office compared to their UK counterparts.

Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman recently told employees that “if you can go into a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office and we want you in the office.”

America’s largest bank JP Morgan Chase has also “strongly urging” all US staff to get a Covid vaccine before a planned return to the office in July.