Turnover on Wall Street rises with eight-digit salaries

The trading desk was embarking on a second year of strong earnings when top executives began defecting to firms such as Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Millennium Management. By the fourth quarter, many of the heavyweights on the team were gone.

The setting was not a distressed investment bank. It was the stock derivatives desk within the mighty JPMorgan Chase & Co. – one of many hotspots for employee turnover in recent months, keeping the bank’s recruiters busy. This is part of a trend throughout the Manhattan financial industry.

Signs are emerging everywhere of increased turnover on Wall Street: An independent recruiter said he had never seen so many openings with eight-figure salaries. A coach career said his clients in the financial sector do not base their decisions solely on money; They are fed up with working so hard that they can’t even have a loving life.

An industry veteran said resignations are becoming so common that some people are anxious and wonder if they are making a mistake by staying.

The trend coincides with relief from a pandemic that spurred job changes and led many in the industry to wonder if they wanted to resume old commutes to the office or even stay in the same city.

Now rival companies convince with money or, in some cases, propose more flexible lifestyles to attract talent and capitalize on the boom in negotiations and acquisition agreements. There is also more competition for women and professionals representing minorities after virtually every major firm vowed to improve diversity in the wake of last year’s racial equity protests.

While the numbers are difficult to calculate, JPMorgan you are not alone. What is impressive is that a company of such renown is not immune to the brain drain.

The resignation rates in many of the divisions of JPMorgan They have risen by at least a few percentage points from pre-pandemic levels, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. That translates to thousands of vacancies to fill, which then adds up to higher turnover at other banks, and so on.

In fact, the hiring machine JPMorgan has suffered with replacements and so on. Despite the high number of staff members who left, its corporate and investment banking division has managed to increase its staffing by 4,500 people in the first nine months of the year. And the stock derivatives desk turned to promotions to fill vacancies and ended up increasing revenue by more than 20% compared to last year, one person said.

“We have been able to retain top talent even in this unique environment“, said Brian Marchiony, a spokesperson for JPMorgan. “We’ve also welcomed some great new hires to JPMorgan, given our performance and leadership in the market.”.

The problem for banks is that defending and hiring talent is expensive. JPMorgan and Bank of America They are among the top companies that warned shareholders last month that compensation costs could rise next year.

The managing director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., David SolomonHe told analysts that there is pressure on compensation and wage inflation, but that it is manageable. Days later, Goldman’s board awarded special long-term bonuses to both him and a vice, giving them more reason to stay.