Should recent college graduates earn $100,000 starting salary?

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the the wall street journal reported that recent college graduates receive starting salaries of $100,000 at major investment banks and that “not everyone is happy about that.”

Milly Wang made around $85,000 when she joined an investment bank at Harvard University in 2016 and said of the new graduate pay level, “I’ve definitely heard a lot of dissatisfaction from from my fellow bankers.”

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It’s not new. Compensation for Wall Street banks, fintech firms, cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial institutions has skyrocketed during the pandemic. It’s not just the securities industry. Tech talent is earning small fortunes because companies aren’t finding enough qualified candidates. The race for software engineers is so fierce that companies are recruiting remote workers all over the world. They also offer development and coding bootcamps to provide the tools for people to access the technology ecosystem.

The compensation is very competitive on cryptocurrency exchanges. They also tend to offer remote work options and other great perks. Typical total compensation packages on bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges typically provide employees with stock, stock options, and restricted stock units, which could lead to future earnings if the company does well. According to self-reported salary data listed on Blind, software engineers and technologists have reported job openings of up to $900,000 per year. The nearly $1 million salary package for a senior software engineer includes stock-based compensation of $450,000 per year, plus cash bonuses ranging from 5% to 15% of an employee’s base salary. These professionals can easily order total compensation packages earning over $1.5 million.

An increase in trading activity, the launch of SPAC and other capital markets activities kept bankers busy and generated outsized revenue gains and profits for companies. Financial companies need to keep their employees working and motivated to take advantage of the ideal situation they are going through.

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The financial sector must cater to the needs of Gen Z workers, who are in their early 20s. They have a different mindset compared to previous generations. They want a healthy work-life balance. They saw how their baby boomer and Gen-X parents spent most of their lives working hard at jobs they didn’t like. Many young adults have seen their mothers and fathers unceremoniously fired during the financial crisis and the pandemic, see their jobs relocated or not be promoted.

Seeing this happen taught them the game. There is no corporate loyalty, so it’s time for them to become free agents and manage their own future. This includes finding companies that treat their employees with respect and dignity. Young adults are looking for organizations that offer meaningful jobs that serve a bigger purpose. It is also important for them to work in a company that defends the same social and political issues that they defend. This cohort also wants to be paid well for their efforts.

Securing a job in investment banking has been a big goal of college students for generations. It was considered the ticket to creating incredible wealth and achieving high social status. The profession, which deals with mergers and acquisitions, takes companies public with IPOs, or trades stocks and bonds, seems like an attractive and exciting career from an outside perspective.

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As Silicon Valley and tech companies boomed, she stole some of the thunder from Wall Street as young people wanted to ditch the confined suits and ties in favor of jeans and hoodies. Hot startups and jobs at big companies, like Twitter, Apple, Meta, and Amazon, offer intellectually challenging jobs and the chance to receive stocks and options that could bring a boon to workers who were in the workplace. right place at the right time.

With the rise of crypto, cool new fintech companies, like Robinhood, and other types of emerging sectors, like the cannabis industry, have also attracted potential bankers.

The image of Wall Street firms and investment bankers has lost some of its luster. An earlier report of ‘inhumane’ 100-hour working weeks further tarnished the banker’s mark. High-end investment bank Goldman Sachs has been accused by junior staff of having to endure terrible working conditions.

A group of 13 disgruntled first-year Goldman Sachs analysts made waves by hosting a professional-looking, company-style presentation about their experiences at the investment bank. The resulting working conditions survey (survey of the 13 analysts who created the slideshow) that circulated on social media said they were working an average of around 100 hours a week.

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The young analysts said they suffered from “workplace abuse”, which damaged their mental and physical health. It also had an impact on their personal relationships. There were also allegations of “over-policing or micromanaging” and a high level of dissatisfaction with their jobs.

This brought about changes, including higher salaries, as well as caring benefits. For example, Goldman Sachs has softened benefits, in an effort to attract and retain its employees. Leading investment bank offers paid leave for pregnancy loss, increases the time employees can take bereavement leave, introduces unpaid sabbaticals for long-time employees, increases its membership dues by matching to the retirement fund for US employees and eliminates the one-year waiting period before matching employee contributions. Goldman’s head of human resources, Bentley de Beyer, said of the program, “We wanted to deliver a compelling value proposition to current and potential employees, and we wanted to make sure we were leading, not just competing.”

Investment banks rushed to offer better salaries, bonuses and incentives. Jefferies Financial Group, a midsize investment bank, has graciously offered its more than 1,000 junior bankers the option of a “Peloton bike with a one-year subscription, a home workout system Mirror with a one-year subscription or a package that includes an Apple Watch SE, iPad Air, and AirPods Pro with AppleCare+,” according to Fortune.

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The Swiss-based international bank, Credit Suisse, informed investment bankers that they would receive bonuses of $20,000. This would be for entry-level and mid-level bankers. There will be salary increases for workers who are below the level of “general manager”. The bank will also allow casual dress when people return to the office.

In an effort to keep associates happy and stay with private equity giant Apollo Global Management, the company is offering six-figure retention-type bonuses. In a booming market, Apollo plans to award awards of approximately $100,000 to $200,000, depending on whether recipients will remain with the private equity firm through September 2022. The company will also offer employees the ability to work remotely two days a week for the rest. of the year.

For its 210,000 employees, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser has banned internal video calls on Fridays. The move was part of a larger program to set boundaries and help his people have a healthier work-life balance. Fraser also called for a new company-wide holiday, called “Citi Reset Day.” It’s considered a day of decompression, as the pandemic has taken its toll on the psyches of workers.

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There may also be wage growth across all sectors. As inflation rages at the highest rate in decades, the costs of almost everything are skyrocketing. If the Biden administration or the Federal Reserve Bank cannot stop this, the current inflationary spiral will eventually lead to higher prices.

The higher prices will cause workers to pressure their bosses for more money just to meet the alarming costs of food, gas, clothing and everything else. If they don’t receive an inflation cost adjustment, they will quit and find a job elsewhere. The scary thing is that as people demand higher wages, companies raise the prices of goods and services. This could become an infernal upward spiral in wages and prices.

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