A good year for Wall Street bonuses

“There’s no such thing as work-life balance." “There’s only your short, sacred list of priorities. Know them, choose them, make all decisions according to your list of priorities. Only you can know what they are." Bank returns, work culture and more:

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In reaction to the Goldman Sachs white-collar, sweat-shop editorial last week, & to the plea from the Goldman analysts to cap their workweek at 80 hours-- instead of the insane 100 hours a week most of them work--- the other investment banks are throwing money at their employees to stop them from quitting or jumping ship. The banks are scared to death of losing more analysts & associates, as maybe a quarter of them are in counseling searching for a reason to live since they only get 5 hours of sleep and have no social life---trying to justify selling their souls for a buck and a resume. As smart as they are, they are confused about the intrinsic value of a Wall Street life, which can’t be found in a spreadsheet. The Street’s reaction to the Goldman backlash is to throw money at the sleep-starved bankers, trying to buy some turnover time. For example, today, Apollo offered all their associates a $100K cash special bonus. Even junior associates at Apollo this year will make $550K, tying them to their computers with golden handcuffs. Yesterday, Credit Suisse gave a special $20K bonus to all junior bankers and hiked salaries. This is raw stimulus to work longer & harder, which is much different from the $1400 gov-stimulus to work less. Capitalism & socialism at their extremes.

What will working at #Citi look like once the pandemic eases and we have been vaccinated? That is the question on everyone’s mind. I am excited to begin planning the return to our offices and the #futureofwork because I do believe we are better when we are together. Critical aspects of our work such as collaboration, professional development and a sense of belonging can happen over Zoom – but only up to a point. That said, our people have benefitted from facets of working remotely, so we intend to create additional flexibility going forward with three new models of working. Learn more about those models and how we’re addressing the immediate need to reset working practices and employee #wellbeing, given the relentlessness of the pandemic workday, like #zoomfreefriday.

Zoom Free Friday! Reset Days! Fitness Perks! Pandemic Payments! Good to see more and more employers adapting to a changing landscape. What other changes or approaches have you seen that have helped employees?

Wall Street firms are lining up to show their kinder, gentler side as a pandemic-fueled malaise weighs on employees. Following a mea culpa from Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David M. Solomon, who after a group of junior bankers complained promised to at least give them Saturday off, others are following suit. Citi was the latest, with CEO Jane Fraser banning internal video calls on Fridays and encouraging staff to—yes—take vacations. Jefferies Financial Products LLC said last week that it would reward its youngest workers with fitness perks, including Peloton Technology bikes. So has a new day dawned? We’ll see.

Amid the reports of overworked investment bankers and remedies to burnout, it's been fascinating to see the range of reactions from those in and previously in the industry. A few examples below via Andrew Ross Sorkin. At one end of the spectrum, you're seeing some say enough is enough — the workload isn't worth it. At the other end, I'm hearing many say it's simply the price of admission — and excellence — in an industry whose culture has been forged by decades of tradition. What's your take on banking's workload? Do the benefits outweigh the costs? What are the benefits and costs? What changes, if any, would you want to see? Join the conversation in the comments below. #LinkedInFinance