So you think you're underpaid?
Here, slightly belatedly, are the results of our global bonus survey. It was conducted last month, in the days before Bear Stearns was totally subsumed by JPMorgan or Bradford & Bingley cast a deathly pallor across the British banking sector. The main conclusion? You don't think you're being paid enough.
A total of 938 of you responded to the survey. A hefty 62% thought you should have been paid more for your efforts in 2007.
This may be because, on average - and despite last year's bonuses being generous - you were paid fairly modestly.
Only 18.6% of respondents received bonuses in excess of $200k. And 46% received less than $50k.
The results may have been skewed by the inclusion of responses from the likes of Singapore, where bonuses are typically lower than in London and New York.
However, it also goes to show that while some people working in financial services make enough to retire while they still have all their hair, the vast majority really don't. This is confirmed by stats from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which suggest the average City of London bonus for last year was 24k and the average bonus for 2008 will be a meagre 14k.
Despite feeling underpaid, the vast majority (86%) of respondents to our survey said they'd never knowingly misrepresented their role in a transaction to wangle more money from their employer. However, 70% said the current system encourages emphasis on short-term performance, and 50% said the bonus system should be reformed.
What would bonus reform look like? Most people said bonuses should be averaged over the cycle. But a few (three) felt moved to suggest bonuses should be paid on a monthly basis along with salaries.
