Why your employer would like you to go away

This year's bonus pool has been divided more unevenly than ever. If you performed incredibly well, you got a largeish bonus. If you performed moderately well, you didn't. Some people who performed moderately well still got nothing. Anyone who performed questionably well also got nothing.

With these zeroes, banks are trying to say something. More than ever, they are trying to tell you to leave.

There are reasons for this.

The main one is salaries. Now that salaries have risen dramatically, passengers are no longer affordable.

"The cost of each individual is so high that it's all about quality, not quantity," says Jason Kennedy at search firm Kennedy Associates.

Kennedy says the emphasis is on getting rid of non-performers and making way for upgrades. "Upgrading is about replacing one for one or one for two non performing employees," he informs us.

The subsidiary reason is deferred bonuses.

If a bank makes someone redundant, it will need to honour all their deferrals. If someone leaves of their own accord to join a competitor, it won't.

"If you're a 'good leaver' you'll typically be able to leave with all your restricted stock and options intact and will have access to them at the times prescribed on the vesting schedule," says Philip Landau, employment lawyer at Landau Zeffertt Weir Solicitors.

"However, if you're a bad leaver - if you are dismissed for reasons of misconduct, or if you resign to join a competitor, you will forego any outstanding stock," he adds.

From an bank's perspective, it would therefore be ideal if you'd be a bad leaver. Join a competitor. Here's a 25p bonus to encourage you on your way.