Would you give up $2 of bonus for $1 of salary?
With banks' pay systems being revised away from bonuses and towards salaries, organizations might take this opportunity to reduce overall compensation bills.
Alan Johnson, doyen of Wall Street pay consultants and advisor to numerous banks, says he's advising his clients that the increased certainty of a salary means that every $1 of base pay is equivalent to $2 of bonus.
With places like BofA and UBS said to be increasing salaries by as much as 70%, Johnson's recommendations mean bonuses could fall substantially forever.
"I've been advising Wall Street to increase base salaries for the past 11 years," Johnson says. "A lot of these firms haven't increased their base pay for 20 years. Managing directors were being paid $200k salaries in 1986 and bonuses were much lower then."
Would you rather have the certainty of a reasonably large salary than the uncertainty of an unfeasibly large bonus? Unburden yourself below.
