Bankers have long been the villains of the financial crisis in the public’s eye. Now, in addition to popular disapproval, the industry is taking a further battering as its workforce finds itself under fire in the executive pay debate, while also reeling from one of the most severe rounds of job cuts in decades.
From Wall Street to the City, investment banks are shedding tens of thousands of employees as they rush to cut costs amid falling profitability and costly new regulatory rules.
Those who do keep their jobs can expect far lower pay-outs than a year ago as the uncertainty caused by the eurozone crisis means investment banking revenues for 2011 are forecast to be about half of 2010’s level.