City Bonus - Why does the UK media hate it?

[TheAnimus]

Like most cheap types who commute I read the metro/london lite/the london paper.

But why do they have it in for the city bonus? All the negative press.

A certain bank has announced that its giving a £20 million bonus. Guess what, the guy who's getting it didn't get to choose it, it will of been awarded to him because his department has made the bank a hell of a lot more than £20 million?

So whats too moan about? £8 million is going straight to gorden brown, should pay for a fair bit of iraq occupation.

I read claims that its driving up house prices.... yes, he is really going to be buying 16 rather nice georgian terrices isn't he? If your in the £10 million+ real estate end, then i really don't care if people like his bonus mean you have to make do with just a 15 meter gold plated swimming pool.

If your that appaulled or jelous, try actually working that hard? Theres a region most people are either eccetric or bald in my bank.

But then the press attack our xmas bash. Thanks.

I've been in at 6:45am, and i don't know what time it was i left, but the tubes where still running. Thankfully a college got me lunch. My contract stipulates an 8 hour day. If i'd left before fixing the risks i'd broken, i might as well of not bothered ever coming back. I do that, for less than £9.50 an hour after tax. Now tell me i don't deserve a bonus? I wouldn't be doing the job where it not expectations of my salary to double each year, no way, i'd just be a regular programmer instead.

The xmas parties, offsites, whilst involving coupious amounts of drink are also a way of the company saying thanks, you've worked hard, now play hard.

I'm sorry if my employer spending a few k a head seams vulgar, but its penuts considering each person generates £5m (mean average, not representative of individual contribution) its nice to be rewarded, and also bond with colleges.

My parents ran a day nursery, they spent far more % of their profit on the xmas party, (about £120 per head). Yet i doubt anyone complained.

So why is it bad that people who've been working damn hard are been rewarded well? There's a hudge shortage of good people, think that you don't get the reward in your present job, then come work for the city, don't moan about it.

[herulach]

But its so easy to moan,and so hard to get off your ass and get off the dole. I know people who work in our treasury department, and yes the get paid an absolute bucket, but like you said, they have to on the ball 8 till 7 every day, it really is hard work.

Loads of people get far more outrageous bonuses (directors of failing companies for eg). And if you arent great in the city, you wont get a bonus anyway, a guy i know used to work for miimum wage + 5% of anything he made the company, take home pay was around 4k/month, but if he screwed up and didnt end up out the door theyd dock his 5% off the loss too.

[Moby-Dick]

to be fair I don't think the moaning is coming from people on the dole - Its coming from people who may work equally long hours (I'm no stranger to 70 hours weeks myself ) but because they are not in the city they don't always get the same level of recognition ?

[TheAnimus]

to be fair I don't think the moaning is coming from people on the dole - Its coming from people who may work equally long hours (I'm no stranger to 70 hours weeks myself ) but because they are not in the city they don't always get the same level of recognition ?

But its not comming from them.

The bank i'm currently employed by has only a UK presense in the city.

And no, its us, enless you consider the 15k a month per bloomberg license exploitation, or the god knows how much license for MS, how much sun charge us for our farm.......

[Moby-Dick]

Ah - the firm I work for has lots of UK prescences

YGPM

[BUFF]

So whats too moan about? £8 million is going straight to gorden brown, should pay for a fair bit of iraq occupation.

actually I doubt that Gordon will get anything like that as I'm sure that the clever accountants will have a scheme to minimise tax on it.

[Rave]

I don't have any problem with city bonuses at all, because the bubble will burst- I reckon this year, but if not definitely in 2008. At that point a lot/most of you will be out on your backsides. If you've been smart, you will have put away the big money you earned this year in savings and will be easily able to weather the storm.

What I do have a big problem with is the government chucking obscene amounts of money at PFI projects that can never be cheaper than publically funded projects. IMO the directors of Railtrack (just one example) should spend the rest of their lives in government enforced penury.

[YorkieBen]

I don't have any problem with city bonuses at all, because the bubble will burst- I reckon this year, but if not definitely in 2008. At that point a lot/most of you will be out on your backsides. If you've been smart, you will have put away the big money you earned this year in savings and will be easily able to weather the storm.

What I do have a big problem with is the government chucking obscene amounts of money at PFI projects that can never be cheaper than publically funded projects. IMO the directors of Railtrack (just one example) should spend the rest of their lives in government enforced penury.

lol @ 'most of you' being out on our arses

yes the economy is heading towards slowdown but I doubt there will be a massive recession. And also even if we have a bad recession unemployment wont be 50% will it?

[badass]

On the first post.

One word..........jealousy.
Rave: I doubt next year is crunch time - I think it'll be at least 2-3 years. But yes, it is coming.

lol @ 'most of you' being out on our arses

yes the economy is heading towards slowdown but I doubt there will be a massive recession. And also even if we have a bad recession unemployment wont be 50% will it?

IIRC the last recession unemployment hit 10%

[b0redom]

People who are paid huge bonuses are paid them because they are in demand. If you think you can do the job why not apply?

Tom

[revol68]

Well I know why it pisses me off everytime I look at my 13,000 a year wage slip, which i easily work 45 hours a week for.

But in general it just sickens me that so much human potential is set to work making money through speculation in order to make more money to speculate (oh and of course a few people get golden pools but that's beside the point).

Meanwhile hospitals are crumbling and being pimped out to pfi schemes, the NHS can't afford drugs for alzheimers or breast cancer, public transport is a state, global warming continues and i've to get up every weekday and waste my life in a glorified data input job centred around making programmes for financial institutes for a paltry 13,000.

[herulach]

Well I know why it pisses me off everytime I look at my 13,000 a year wage slip, which i easily work 45 hours a week for.

But in general it just sickens me that so much human potential is set to work making money through speculation in order to make more money to speculate (oh and of course a few people get golden pools but that's beside the point).

Meanwhile hospitals are crumbling and being pimped out to pfi schemes, the NHS can't afford drugs for alzheimers or breast cancer, public transport is a state, global warming continues and i've to get up every weekday and waste my life in a glorified data input job centred around making programmes for financial institutes for a paltry 13,000.

The thing is though, just because you work 45 hours a week doesnt mean you should get paid the same as say a doctor. No offence meant, but if you got the skills to get a higher paid job get one, people with more skills/qualifications get paid more, its a fact of life, or where would be the benefit in spending 3 years at uni and another 5 doing CeFA or ACCA or somesuch?

[Kumagoro]

I couldn't be bothered to read past the first few lines so I
may have missed this. Did only the manager get a whacking
great bonus? If so what about the people that actually earned
the money, what are they getting.

[TheAnimus]

The thing is though, just because you work 45 hours a week doesnt mean you should get paid the same as say a doctor. No offence meant, but if you got the skills to get a higher paid job get one, people with more skills/qualifications get paid more, its a fact of life, or where would be the benefit in spending 3 years at uni and another 5 doing CeFA or ACCA or somesuch?

Also, my contract stipulates 40 hours, if i worked as little as 50 hours, i'd have no bonus comming at all. My socail life extends too 1 weekday lunch a month, fri night, and sat (sun i often have to do stuff over the VPN). Because i'm ok running on about 5 hours sleep a night, i can manage meeting up for a 3 hours on a weeknight too. Just more than once a week and it kills me.

I also have the debt of uni on me, and a hell of a lot of stress.

Plus london generally requires about an extra 40% on ur wage for property.

[TheAnimus]

I couldn't be bothered to read past the first few lines so I
may have missed this. Did only the manager get a whacking
great bonus? If so what about the people that actually earned
the money, what are they getting.

GS sparked anger in papers such as the metro, by paying someone £20m.

On average, the GS bonus pay out is 320k per head (mean average, median would probably be about 80-100k).

Now lots of people, who i shall call "lazy" write for the metro, and call this obscene, and other such people wrote into the metro complaining because they don't work hard enough either. Well thats my take on it.

[b0redom]

Sitting there and whining isn't going to get you a payrise / better working conditions. Leave and find something else?