Wall Street Is Paying Over $100,000 To Junior Bankers. For Many, That’s Not Enough

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Tashrima Hossain, who used to work on Wall Street, but quit to join Facebook, is part of a growing number of young people who are no longer attracted to investment banking despite surging salaries. She posed for a portrait at Alamo Square in San Francisco on Aug. 11.

Preston Gannaway for NPR

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Frustrated by the long hours at J.P. Morgan, Tashrima Hossain decided to quit her high-paying job there early. She is photographed here in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, August 11, 2021.

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A Wall St sign hangs at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at Wall Street on March 23, 2021 in New York City.

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A Wall St sign hangs at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at Wall Street on March 23, 2021 in New York City.

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Often, Keizner says, the comments they heard sounded something like this: «‘Hold on. You’ve been sitting there, it looks like, for 48 hours straight, with your laptop on the sofa. Like, are they paying you enough to do this?'

«And after a few months, people began to address that question by saying, ‘Well, maybe not,' Keizner adds.

Wall Street is aware of the perception problem on its hands.

David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, responded to the complaints and criticism hurled by its junior employees in an earnings call with analysts.

«In this 24/7 connected world, we have to help those transitioning into the workforce to understand that Goldman Sachs is a place where we work very hard to serve our clients but all need to be thoughtful about personal resilience and well-being, Solomon said.

The Goldman CEO pledged to take «concrete actions, including additional hiring, reallocating resources, and pursuing stricter enforcements of boundaries.

And he committed to enforcing one rule in particular: prohibiting most work on Saturdays, to ensure its junior bankers have at least one day a week off.

Meanwhile, Bank of America sent messages of encouragement to its junior bankers, according to an internal memo obtained by NPR announcing pay increases for analysts, associates, and vice presidents.

«Your efforts and wellbeing are critical to our success, the heads of Bank of America’s global corporate and investment banking wrote.

Yet doubts persist about whether Wall Street’s efforts to raise pay and address morale will be enough.

Hossain, for one, says a raise would not have persuaded her to stay at J.P. Morgan. She says she wanted the opportunity to build things, to feel like she’s making an actual impact.

Today, Hossain is at Facebook, working on something that interests her more: public policy. As a program manager, she is involved in the company’s efforts to improve election integrity after the company came under intense scrutiny over its actions during the 2016 election.

«Even if I could have had an increase in salary, I don’t think that was enough for me to stay, she says. «And largely the reason I left and took a significant pay cut to leave was because I wanted to do work that mattered to me and felt fulfilling.