Morgan Stanley, the American investment bank, has hiked the minimum salary of its junior bankers by $15,000. While the first-year analysts will earn $100,000 instead of $85,000, the second-year analysts will earn $105,000 instead of $90,000, excluding bonus. These hikes will come into effect from August 1.
The increment is based on a review of yearly compensation, which involves adjusting pay according to market conditions, which has been the usual practice for the Bank.
Recently, many banks have hiked the salaries of their junior staff, with some even offering them a one-time bonus, following a complaint by junior analysts at Goldman Sachs about unreasonable deadlines, excessive work pressure and tedious hours. This led to a spate of increments across banks, in a bid to keep their junior staff happy, to attract quality talent and to retain them. The investment bank, Jefferies, went to the extent of offering its junior employees the primo Peloton bike in appreciation of the extra hours and hard work they have been putting in.
Business has been looking up for banks of late, with an increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions amidst the pandemic. This has resulted in profits for investment banks and of course extended working hours, especially for the junior employees.
In fact, a survey by Goldman Sachs had revealed that on an average analysts worked for 95 hours, getting only about five hours of sleep.
However, Goldman Sachs is yet to announce any increments of salary changes.
