Investment Bankers Disappointed With Pay. Really?

Junior investment bankers are largely dissatisfied with their pay and are looking to leave the industry, according to a Bloomberg report.

Most enjoy their jobs but are unhappy at having to work 100-hour weeks, angry at having their vacations canceled at the last minute, and bitterly disappointed at not making as much money today as they used to a few years ago.

Almost 60% of young bankers surveyed said they'd like to move over to private equity, according to a survey by headhunting firm Capstone Partnership.

From Bloomberg:

Of about 2,000 associates and vice presidents in their first three years, 67 percent identified "disappointment with compensation" as one of the biggest reasons to leave the field. Almost the same percentage described their jobs as "satisfactory," according to Kopelan.

More than 80 percent said they don't believe that their compensation is mainly predicated on performance. Instead, Kopelan said, young investment bankers worry that it's "based on the profitability of the firm, based on how powerful the group heads were, based on capricious things."

Um - hello? Isn't that the way most firms work? Employees get paid (or should get paid) on performance, but also according to how well the company is doing. Sure, if you don't like it, leave. Then again, Bloomberg reports that last year, Wall Street paid out $29.8 billion in cash bonuses, instead of $22.5 billion a year before. Company profits might be down and the economy might be shaky, but these still sound like nifty little bonuses to me.