Most every big bank – including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America and Credit Suisse – has implemented new rules aimed at easing the workload of its junior staffers. As of today, Deutsche Bank has yet to follow suit, and it’s beginning to create frustration among analysts and associates within the U.S. branch.
A source within the investment bank said that the lack of an official policy has become “a hot topic” within the halls of the firms. Frustration has boiled over due to perception among Deutsche Bank analysts and associates that they already “work harder and get paid less” than bankers who work at the aforementioned firms, the source said. The sense of pay inequity seems to have also affected hiring at other levels.
“We are desperately trying to hire people at the senior associate and junior VP level and can’t find people willing to work here,” the source said.
Recent reports from Financial Times and City AM say that the German lender is working on guidelines that would limit the hours of interns, giving them at least four weekend days off a month, but no word yet on whether the bank will implement similar policies for full-time junior bankers. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that won’t eventually happen. Deutsche Bank didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bank will communicate bonus plans to U.S. workers next Wednesday, according to the source. Those conversations should have a significant effect on the temperament in the office, whether negatively or positively.