UBS dangles $40,000 bonuses to slow exodus of overworked junior bankers
Swiss bank UBS will offer its junior banking analysts a $40,000 bonus when they are promoted to the associate level — the latest bid by financial giants to retain younger workers amid an explosion in dealmaking.
The payout is roughly double what competitors like Credit
Suisse and Wells Fargo are reportedly offering to keep rookie employees amid
increasingly grueling routines, and amounts to roughly 30 percent of the annual
base salary of a new associate, according to Bloomberg, which first reported
the news on Monday.
The move comes as banks are scrambling to keep young talent
from fleeing amid a dizzying workload from a spike in deals. In March, a leaked
slideshow presentation compiled by 13 junior Goldman Sachs analysts detailed
complaints about 100-hour workweeks. Some griped of shifts as long as 20 hours
that left them little time to eat, sleep or shower, claiming that the grind
damaging their physical and mental health.
After such complaints spilled onto social media, banks
including Goldman and JPMorgan vowed to hire more staff, with the latter
pledging to boost its headcount by 200. Private equity firm Apollo Global
Management has reportedly offered some associates as much as $200,000 to stick
around.
Elsewhere, Citibank CEO Jane Fraser told employees she was
banning Zoom meetings on Fridays to address Zoom fatigue. Investment bank
Jefferies even offered its junior staff the primo Peloton bike as a “thank you”
for working long hours.
But not everyone is getting a big payout. Even as UBS is
offering more money to bankers, its shaving staff in other areas of the
business. It’s unclear what the new headcount will be or where the cuts will be
focused, but the bank has announced it plans to save about $300 million in
restructuring costs.
A UBS spokesperson did not immediately respond to request
for comment.
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