Barclays Joins Wall Street Rivals in Junior Banker Pay Boost

(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc is hiking junior banker pay, joining Wall Street rivals including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. in paying up to retain staffers amid high levels of burnout.

The London-based bank will lift base salaries of all U.S. analysts by $15,000 and its U.S. associates and vice presidents by $25,000, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Under the changes, first-year analyst base salaries will rise to $100,000, the person said.

For staff outside the U.S., equivalent percentage raises will be in local currencies, according to the person. The pay boost is effective July 1 for all junior bankers in Barclays' banking organization and began being formally communicated on Wednesday.

A Barclays spokesman declined to comment.

Wall Street is seeking to ease pressure on bankers early in their careers who've been inundated by deal flow amid the work-from-home grind. Banks have tried handing out raises, paying for vacations and enforcing curfews in a bid to prevent defections. A presentation from a group of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts thrust the issue into the fore earlier this year when it shed light on their 100-hour weeks and declining physical as well as mental health.

Barclays has already reworked some of its policies designed to protect the mental health of junior investment bankers. As part of those April policy changes, Barclays said analysts and associates shouldn't be working from 9 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Sunday except when unavoidable, such as for staffing live deals. It also said that its youngest employees are expected to take five-day vacations twice a year, recommending they completely disconnect from work.

Barclays' step follows JPMorgan, which hiked pay for junior bankers, with first-year analysts now offered starting salaries of $100,000. In April, the lender told staff it was adding almost 190 workers to its investment-banking ranks to lessen the burden. Bank of America said in April that its junior investment bankers would get a pay increase the following month.

In other efforts, Credit Suisse Group AG and Wells Fargo & Co. said they would give some of their junior employees one-time bonuses while Houlihan Lokey Inc. offered some workers an all-expenses paid vacation. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. put a selection of coveted fitness perks including a Peloton Interactive Inc. bike and Apple Inc. products up for grabs.