Pay is shit after inflation

We’ve had 15% total (reported) inflation since 2020. Even after pay bumps, our pay is shit when considering inflation, especially at BBs and some pretty lackluster bonuses this year from many banks. We need another raise.

 

lol this isn’t 2020/2021 where ppl are getting unsustainable raises. comp and bonus is only downward now

 

you're not wrong, a lot of juniors are drawn into IB/S&T from the prestige associated with pre-08 and don't really understand what they're getting themselves into. post 08 IB is a heavily commoditised product as banks no longer have advantages from proprietary information, proprietary trading or even having talented staff (as talent leaves to buyside immediately).

I wasn't in the industry pre-08 but I can imagine you actually needed a few more braincells to navigate the work when: information was genuinely scarce, IT systems were crude, paperwork was not fully digitised, offshore support was nascent, communication was largely person and your bank could take multiple proprietary positions on transactions.

whereas as you've observed, intelligent juniors in other sectors where technical ability is valued (albiet there are not many) can rightfully command higher pay.

 
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As a new associate in 2019 i was at 150.

Then i bumped up to 175 next year in 2020 for being associate 2...then pay bump to 200k.

Then became associate 3 at 225k.

I honestly feel like I have as much spending power as when I was at 150 in 2019.    The 3.5k one bedroom in Manhattan in 2019 is now 5.7k

The 30 dollar uber ride home is now 60.

Chipotle burritos are like 18 dollars now with tax

 

Yeah I doubt it. Just ranting about how little buying power we have nowadays even from working in a “high-paying” job and getting grinded with long hours

 

Tbf, and I hate the guy btw, it's also trump's fault too with those dumbass stimmy packages and moratoriums during COVID. I do like saying let's go brandon tho lol

 

I cleared $275K as a 25 year old dickhead, working ~55 hours a week this past bonus cycle (paid in July). I really can't complain lol.

Don't get me wrong inflation sucks, housing prices make home ownership a pipe dream for millennials/zoomers in HCOL cities and bonuses weren't as good as they could have been if the market wasn't dead. 

But also, median income for people my age is $49K a year. Top 1% (for single, 25 y/o's) is $160K. We're clearing 5x what most people our age are. I think we've just got to accept that this aint the 1940s anymore and quality of life in major, US cities has decreased across the board. It sucks that what being in the 1% today affords you is less than what dudes working on assembly-lines back then were able to get in terms of houses, cars & tuition, but that's life today. It isn't like people outside of banking have it better. Imagine how tough you would have it if you were making $49K/year like most people your age. We were born in the wrong era friends. 

 
Amicable Chungus

I cleared $275K as a 25 year old dickhead, working ~55 hours a week this past bonus cycle (paid in July). I really can't complain lol.

Don't get me wrong inflation sucks, housing prices make home ownership a pipe dream for millennials/zoomers in HCOL cities and bonuses weren't as good as they could have been if the market wasn't dead. 

But also, median income for people my age is $49K a year. Top 1% (for single, 25 y/o's) is $160K. We're clearing 5x what most people our age are. I think we've just got to accept that this aint the 1950s anymore and quality of life in major, US cities has decreased across the board. It sucks that what being in the 1% today affords you is less than what dudes working on assembly-lines back then were able to get in terms of houses, cars & tuition, but that's life today. It isn't like people outside of banking have it better. Imagine how tough you would have it if you were making $49K/year like most people your age. We were born in the wrong era friends. 

Where the fuck are you working 55 hours a week when 2021 was incredibly hot? 
 

is this a KeyBanc Cleveland promotion post?

 

Well Cap Markets have been slow as shit for a while. Back in early 2021 I was grinding a lot more, but even by late 2021 it was more like get in at 8:00AM, leave by 9:00PM Mon-Thurs and leave around 6:30 on Fridays. So closer to 65 hours than 55. 

We do have solid deal flow as well, I just work for one of the few banks that makes a solid effort to not bury juniors with stupid time-consuming work & processes for no reason. My bosses have kids they want to go home to and they don't want to be reviewing work from the juniors at midnight anymore than they want the juniors to be working to midnight. It really is amazing how efficient and non-sweatshoppy this job can be if you work on a close-knit team with good team players.   

For example, if I turn in a Roadshow deck that is thoughtful, which the entire group outlined how to put together beforehand, my bosses don't take pleasure in iterating and reiterating on it for the next two weeks. They're fine just being like yeah, this is what we discussed, this all looks good, make these few tweaks and lets cross it off the list. Versus holy shit let's have 8 MDs gang-bang this with dumb comments because each of them need to feel in control of something. 

 

lmao American cities were shitholes in the 1950s wtf. People were leaving in droves and there was a real problem with urban decay and inner city crime. 

 

Haha alright, history buff. You get the point. Shit that was easily affordable at one point (house in the suburbs outside of a major city, cars, tuition) on a one-person, every-man salary is now extremely tough to afford for even the top earners.  

 

Make it zero then.

Zero pay after inflation-adjusted is still zero. 

 

Was hoping to get a modern studio for myself in Queens thinking that would be more affordable than Manhattan, and that was true a year ago, but now it's pushing the upper end of my budget. 

Same- would be my second place- I own my own place in the suburbs. Had to pick Jersey City for my ped a tierre. 

Like the unadjusted- only with a little bit extra.
 

I agree I’m just saying if you do the math it basically comes down to 28 dollars per hour for an A1 assuming 80 hour weeks and 35% taxes and 180,000 salary. Seems like the metric to base off is $ per hour especially when you are donating the best years of your life to a bank. 28 dollars per hour in a highly inflationary environment is not great. There should def be another raise. Obviously, it gets way more attractive VP plus. 

 

Disagree with this take, it's about the total pay. Would consider pay per hour if people do something monetarily productive with the hours they aren't working.

If someone makes 175k working 80 hours, they still make 175k vs the guy at google who works 35 hours and makes 150k and spends his free time doing unproductive things like watching football, etc.

 

All that matters is your purchasing power imo. The little games people play to make the job sound less lucrative (like hourly adjusted wages) are silly. Buying a new house costs whatever it costs, and you either can or cannot afford it. How many hours you worked to get to the point where you can afford it is a whole other consideration, but it doesn't change the fact that you're rich.   

 

Fun fact but the bank you work for views you in terms of $ per hour, so they can maximize the value they extract from you. And I agree with your point to a degree but I guess I’m referring to the opportunity cost and trade off between time worked and incremental dollar. Extra hours worked matter - what if you have an uncertain health condition in the future, wish you could spend more time with parents etc. 

 

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