Evercore Offers Banking Analysts $25,000 to Defer Start Dates

(Bloomberg) -- Evercore Inc. told its incoming investment banking analysts that it would offer them $25,000 if they delayed their start date for a year.

The boutique investment bank also offered a $15,000 payment for deferring until January, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A spokesman for Evercore declined to comment.

The coronavirus pandemic has stifled global merger-and-acquisition activity, and Evercore Chief Executive Officer Ralph Schlosstein has said it would be negatively affected by the decline “for some period of time.”

Wall Street firms last delayed start dates for bankers during the financial crisis to lower costs. Many banks have already begun delaying the start dates of internships as the coronavirus pandemic has forced them to keep offices closed.

While Evercore has committed to avoiding job cuts during the coronavirus outbreak, the firm has said it will cut about 6% of its workforce after it conducted an operations review earlier this year. The bank has also said it expects pay for dealmakers to be lower by the end of 2020.

The Wall Street Journal reported the offers earlier Wednesday.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.