Lateral Negotiation: Bonus Buyout
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Please anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe you can. What reason does the bank have to pay you a bonus if you’re going to be leaving? More in the pool for everyone else. You have almost no leverage in this situation… since you’ll be leaving.
I think you're misunderstanding here. The bank they're leaving is not paying, it's the new bank that buys them out by giving a signing bonus to make up for them leaving before bonus.
It's very standard across the industry
Yep, definitely misread that. I’ve just had buddies who’ve tried getting early bonuses from their group which is probably why that immediately came to mind
If you're moving right before bonuses are paid at your current shop then a signing bonus with the new one is a very sensible ask imo. Assuming you receive an offer then speak to the HH (or HR if you're going direct) and mention that bonuses are just XX weeks away and you'd be keen to understand whether they'd be open to buy you out, or at least partially. You might end up negotiating a later starting date so you can receive bonus at your current shop and then move. This convo should happen after receiving an offer though you could gently hint the bonus situation a bit earlier so they don't feel blindsided.
Is this a less reasonable ask if you’re half way through the year instead of say a few weeks from your start date?
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