Waving goodbye after bonuses

Bonuses in the IT financial space have always been a long way off investment bankers', but it seems several IT pros are sick of below-par payouts and plan to take the money and run.

Dominic Hilleard, director of permanent at tech recruiters Cyberteam, says: "This has been the busiest January I can remember. We've had a good flow of candidates looking for work and clients committing to interview."

Meanwhile, the tech team at recruiters Huxley Associates says it had an ad-response system failure this week, such was the influx of applications.

Peter Barker, manager of the IT division at Huxley, says: "High-level managers generally divide their teams into three or four tiers. The top tier would have received decent sums, but the others wouldn't have done very well. Bonus payouts are an indication of how much your company values you, so many have been left disgruntled."

Are the poor payouts across the board? Stephen Feline, senior consultant at recruiters the Kaizen Partnership, thinks not: "Front office, STP tradeflow or anything related to making money will be well paid. Those on standalone supporting systems that don't contribute to the P&L will be disappointed."

And are bonuses particularly important to IT workers anyway? It's not as though they're going to be able to buy a second home or the Ferrari they've always dreamed of. Bonuses come in at a maximum of 30%, says Barker, and these are generally for roles like front office support.

"If they're in banking they think like bankers," says Feline, "and so bonuses are very important, although a pay rise is always better."

Hilleard thinks otherwise: "Key motivators in our experience in IT are not necessarily money - good management and development tend to be more significant than overall bonuses. However, the wider issue here is that if bonuses are cut then projects and training may also be slashed and this will have a definite effect on staff retention."