This employer will pay you to…go on safari?

And why Wall St. bonuses took a hit

April 25, 2023

Hello, hey, hi! Repeat after us: Just because winter is over and the weather is amazing doesn’t mean you have to get happy hour outside every day (okay, maybe it does). Here’s to the best month of spring being right around the corner—we’ll let Justin Timberlake take it from here. 🎶

 1   Wall Street bonuses were how much this year?!

Coming off a record 2021, Wall Street bonuses fell 26% to an average of $176,700 in 2022, according to a report from the New York State Comptroller. Why the decline? Bank profits sank thanks to an unstable economy, increased competition, and a slowdown in major deals.

Food for thought: In 2022, the bonus pool for New York City securities industry workers was $33.7 billion during the bonus season (December to March). For context, that’s about the GDP of El Salvador. And that average bonus of $176K? It’s 2.5x the real median household income in the U.S.

Despite the pay slash, Wall Street employees are still earning almost double the average American, whose average salary is $53,490 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 2   Why these companies are pushing their start dates way back.

Consulting firms such as Accenture, McKinsey, and Bain & Company are adjusting start dates for their recent hires to acclimate to an uncertain economy, per The Wall Street Journal. But we’re not talking about a delay of a few days or weeks…some firms are pushing start dates to 2024 (see: this employee-to-be who went from starting in July 2023 to January 2024).

The real world will have to wait—but these firms are willing to pay new grads for their time. According to Business Insider, some MBAs were offered $20,000 to…become yoga instructors or go on a safari in Africa (you can’t make this up).

While the delay is tempting (who hasn’t wanted to see elephants IRL? 🐘) it can be anxiety-inducing to recent grads who are eager to start their careers and pay off their student loans. On the bright side, they’ll have some cool stories to tell on their first day at the job.

 3   What would it take for you to go back to the office?

Sergey Nivens

The return-to-office consultants are here to try and sway you to want to head back into the office (weird, we know). The New York Times recently did a profile on the firm Disaster Avoidance Experts and its strategies to get employees from Zoom to IRL.

And there are a lot of companies who might need their services. Disney, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and more are requiring their employees to be in the office a specific number of days a week, according to Bloomberg.  

But they’re getting a lot of resistance, and these stats from Future Forum (and this TikTok) explain why:

86% of Hispanic/LatinX and 81% of Black and Asian knowledge workers prefer remote work as they feel the office is suited to the needs of white men.

50% of working moms would prefer to WFH most or all of the time so they can handle child care while at home.

Employment of people with disabilities is up nearly 25% since the pandemic began, according to The Los Angeles Times.

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Time for a quiz. 🤓 This person has a master’s degree in machine learning and data science, and they’ve now been a data scientist for the past six years. How much are they earning?

a. $90,000
b. $150,000
c. $245,000

The answer is C! And for the record, that’s their salary without a bonus this year. 🤯 

Okay, let’s do the reverse: this person earns $140,000 a year and took a crash course program to develop their skills and build a portfolio. They’re fully remote, have great benefits, but have to have meetings with people from all around the world (meaning calls at 5 AM or 9 PM). What’s their role?

a. Software Sales
b. Software Developer
c. Software Engineer

The correct answer is B! These roles are from our video in Denver, Colorado, where jobs include dog sitters earning $6,000 a month, a marketer in the cannabis industry earning $19.50 an hour, and a healthcare technician with a $230,000 salary. Watch it here!

Thank you so much for reading! A question we’re still mulling over from one of our last videos: is it acceptable to leave a new job after you’ve been there less than a year? We’d love to hear your perspective! Hit reply and share your POV. See you next Tuesday!

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