Reduced bonuses - and they mean you.../ No Wonder Nobody Saw This Coming......

Is there still anybody left who thinks investment banker are living in the real world. After reading this report about the folks in London it should be no surprise why nobody saw the obvious .......The coming round of layoffs will probably be a rude awakening for some of the guys...

Die nachfolgenden Selbsteinschätzung der Bänker aus London in Form der Gehaltsvorstellungen erklärt wohl auch warum kaum einer das aktuelle Debakel hat kommen sehen. Die sind wohl so weit von der Realität entfernt das die kommende Entlassungswelle die meisten wohl überraschen dürfte....

Rude Awakening


Reduced bonuses - and they mean you / FT Alphaville
Look you poor deluded souls out there. When the powers-that-be are spinning their line about it being a tough time in banking, or opining that next year may be difficult, they are in fact talking to you. When they say that everyone will have to play a role in getting through this challenging time, they are telling you that you’re going to get paid less. Not the bloke down the corridor, who left early last Thursday and whose timesheet regularly comes in shy of a three-figure working week. YOU.

We mention this because there is some evidence that people aren’t listening to the latest round of expectations management. Everyone just assumes they’re talking about the other guy.

CitiPanel, a specialist in survey of financial markets, conducted their survey of City financial types in November - well into the credit squeeze, the write-downs and the pruning of staff numbers by the big banks. So there is no excuse for this level of denial.

A whopping 63 per cent of respondents think their total compensation will rise for 2007 to 2008. Only 7 per cent admitted to believing it will fall (and they’re probably the ones in structured finance who are praying merely that they’ll hold onto a job at all).

Moreover, 42 per cent of the City workers surveyed are expecting a promotion - despite the fact that 56 per cent have already been promoted in the last two years. And yet 37 per cent are unaware of what is required internally to move up a grade in the organisation. But they’re rock stars though - they just know they are.

On the back of a bumper 2006, now set as the base level for 2007/08, almost a third of those surveyed are expecting a rise in total pay of 6 to 10 per cent.

Expect some dire predictions and sterner words from your glorious leaders to arrive very soon