Banks Ready for Bonus Backlash

While most Americans are grappling with record unemployment and other effects of the Great Recession, banks are gearing up for bonus season, and payoffs this year are likely to be unchanged from pre-recession numbers, ranging from six to eight figures for top executives. Goldman Sachs employees will likely be paid an average of $595,000 each, while JPMorgan Chase workers will net around $463,000. “There is nothing I’ve seen that gives me the slightest feeling that these people have learned anything from the crisis,” said Citigroup co-founder John S. Reed. “They just don’t get it. They are off in a different world.” The bonuses come at the same time as proposed legislation from Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to create a tax on bank bonuses (a similar tax exists in Britain), and by way of compromise some companies are increasing the ratio of stock to cash in bonus packages as incentive for employees to stay with the company. In spite of criticism though, bankers feel justified for the bonuses: “We’re paying for results, and there were some areas of the company that had terrific results,” said a spokesperson for Bank of America.