To feel depressed and angry about Bankers Bonuses

[SapatSea]

Most people in the country are facing a cost of living crisis. We have had austerity for over a decade due to bailing out the banks and the "we're all in it together" mantra (lies). Although our GDP doesn't look too bad as a bald figure the GDP per person is falling year on year and the multiples of difference in salary/wealth between those at the bottom and top is ever widening. We are becoming a more and more divided society in terms of the have's and have's not.Most people are deeply worried about fuel bills and the future and then we have this
www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/16/weve-had-a-run-on-champagne-biggest-uk-banker-bonuses-since-financial-crash
barely reported by the MSM. It's obscene.

(I do realise that just a few months after the crash and bail out that bankers got bonuses again but this just really hurt reading it this morning)

After the Bank of England called on workers not to ask for pay rises to stem inflation, it does feel particularly crass.

I read that article this morning as well and it really annoys me! No one needs that sort of money. Being a banker isn’t any harder (in fact, much easier) than being a doctor/nurse/carer/teacher etc. Work long hours and make tough split second decisions? That applies to almost any job involving health, care or education. Banking is piss easy compared to that. There is no justification for the salary disparity.

I can see both sides of this. Yes, it feels wrong but if I was offered those bonuses would I accept them? Yes, I would.

It’s up to the government to level the playing field.

I wonder how many of us would decline a pay rise or bonus if offered it though? I wouldn't. It's human nature to want more and more. Bankers are getting paid what they are because they make money for their employers.

Oh god yes, I would take the bonus offered too! It’s not the individuals I’m faulting here, it’s the system.

It's part of the banking culture, even when they got baled out by the taxpayer. Time for change

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar

I read that article this morning as well and it really annoys me! No one needs that sort of money. Being a banker isn’t any harder (in fact, much easier) than being a doctor/nurse/carer/teacher etc. Work long hours and make tough split second decisions? That applies to almost any job involving health, care or education. Banking is piss easy compared to that. There is no justification for the salary disparity.

Doctors/nurses/carers/teachers don't tend to raise millions of pounds in profits for their employers each year. That's why bankers get big bonuses, because they make their employers a lot of money.

I agree that their job isn't any harder that being a doctor, nurse, carer or teachers, but there are a lot more of those than there are bankers getting paid huge bonuses.

Where would the money to pay these groups more come from? Taking all the bankers' bonuses would be a drop in the ocean.

YANBU and that illustration photo is fucking depressing.

99% white men. What's with that?

They also pay a lot of tax. If you reduce their bonuses they will pay less tax, assuming they don’t leave the country for somewhere that does pay bonuses, then you’ll get no tax. Lots of highly paid non financial executives also get 6 and 7 figure bonuses, but you don’t hear much about that, lts always laid squarely at the feet of bankers.

Feel free to go and get a job in a bank OP.

Go work on the banking industry then….

If you were making millions of pounds for your employer through your hard work and decision making, wouldn’t you want that to be acknowledged in your pay package?

It’s the same as footballers. If you’re signed by a club and the club makes multi-millions in additional shirt and ticket sales because people want to see you, why is it unreasonable to expect a cut of that?

I agree that some types of work are woefully underpaid for their contribution to society, caring roles particularly. It’s a joke they get paid so little. But it’s the system’s fault, not the individuals and it’s the role of the government to re-adjust things so there’s a fairer and more equitable distribution of wealth.

I worked in investment banking. My colleague received a £2 million bonus one year. It was a straight formula, directors received 10% of all fees they brought in over £1-2 million. He earned £20 million of fees that year. He also paid nearly half of it in tax.

This is one reason why the BOEs pay rise chat was tone deaf.

f you were making millions of pounds for your employer through your hard work and decision making, wouldn’t you want that to be acknowledged in your pay package?

I think the issue is bad decisions & mistakes are often also rewarded...

@MorningStarling. Yes, I know a couple of investment bankers ( no ideas what sort of bonuses they get) and I believe that’s how bonuses are calculated. If they make £50 million for the company that year, their bonus is calculated accordingly; if they make £100 million, it increases.

The problem is that the amazing work performed by doctors and nurses, for example, can’t be quantified so easily. They save lives, which is priceless. I agree with the OP, though, that these professions should be far, far better paid.

@pateu

f you were making millions of pounds for your employer through your hard work and decision making, wouldn’t you want that to be acknowledged in your pay package?

I think the issue is bad decisions & mistakes are often also rewarded...

Yes, I’d completely agree on that. Bonuses should be a reflection of success not just paid regardless

I've no problem with bankers earning high salaries; my gripe is the way remuneration is calculated, often with a very low (in relative terms) base salary & it then topped up with bonuses, share options etc etc. Because it does seem like most people's understanding of a bonus - ie an extra sum as a reward for good work/exceeding targets etc - doesn't apply to many high-paid executives/bankers/C-suite/directors. Many seem to get given & expect to receive their bonuses & other incentives regardless of how well a business is doing (rewarding failure) hence the need to 'claw back' in retrospect when sufficient fuss has been made in the media.

Why would you stress over what other people earn , you can't change it . Certain sectors have earn big sums since forever eg bankers , footballers , it's all about the wealth you generate for your employer and the value they place on you .
The question should be why are those like nurses etc paid so little .

My DH works in the finance business and gets a good wage and a large bonus every year. He completely gets the disparity between what he earns and what others earn given I was a social worker until I retired. He happily pays his taxes and we are not too much of a burden on state provisioned services. I am not sure what else we can do. Now won't be feeling the pinch as others will in terms of fuel and food price increases but we are totally mindful that others will. We know we are lucky but we don't live an extravagant champagne fuelled lifestyle. What do you suggest we do?

It's also not "piss easy". Granted nothing is more stressful than working in medicine. But it's not without its stresses. In our corporate finance department, people were either qualified lawyers or accountants which took 3 years of post graduate studying (for my ACA).

The work was complex and extremely challenging. The hours were long and involved a lot of sacrifice. There's also very little job security.

That's not to say I believe bankers have a harder time than doctors or teachers. Doctors have years of long hours at fairly lowly salaries for their qualifications. But the banker bashing can be a bit unfair. Particularly given that most work at institutions that didn't get government bailouts. The financial services sector is a key contributor to GDP in the U.K.

I'm glad that people are finally starting to see that it's never been the poor who deserve criticism but the rich.

@hattie43. Yes, and teachers. Teaching a class of 30 children of varying abilities is extremely stressful and challenging.

Being a banker isn’t any harder (in fact, much easier) than being a doctor/nurse/carer/teacher etc

We have some of these careers in my family. The banker works far longer hours (18 hours a day 6 and a half days a week) than the doctor. The banker has no job security (instant redundancy is the norm), no automatic career progression and is the object of uninformed hate from many in society (cf this thread). Additionally they work in a pretty toxic environment and they either get measurable results or they are fired. If they succeed they are well rewarded. Most leave after a few years as the pressure is unsustainable.

For those moaning about the demographic, the jobs are open to anyone with the right skill sets who applies. As things currently stand “diverse” applicants are preferred over white men. But most people would not dream of applying for the reasons given above.

Medicine, nursing, caring, teaching etc are different jobs which require different skill sets and are rewarded differently. If people in those jobs want the rewards of banking then they should apply for banking jobs - and if they are successful, they can put in the hours, deliver the results, and reap the benefits. But there are no weekends, evenings off, long holidays and people clapping in appreciation on their doorsteps - and no nice coffee chats at break time.

Can you imagine the tax we'd need to pay to hand out bonuses to doctors and nurses and teachers? 😂 it'd be wild!

People who say "oh bankers don't do anything is so easy" have clearly never worked in that sort of finance role, if it was as easy as some people believe I'm shocked we aren't all investment bankers.

They get bonuses for making money, through touch decisions and hard work. If they don't perform, they don't get the bonuses. Its the way bonuses work?