Don't Get Excited for City Bonuses

Break out your Adidas and turn up Nirvana. While job activity may be picking up in London, pay is projected to drop to levels not seen since the mid-nineties.

City bonuses will plummet 48% to 2.3 billion pounds this year, according to London-based think tank Centre for Economics and Business Research. Last year, bonuses in the financial sector totalled 4.4 billion pounds, a 35% decrease from the previous year.

Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of CEBR, told Financial News: "City remuneration levels are coming back into the real world. Employees are being told: 'Your job is your bonus, so don't expect a large sum in addition.' "

The one bit of good news: Job vacancies in the City increased 9% to 3,455 last month from March, the FT reports. You may be able to get a job, you just may have a hard time staying happy in it.

Good Advice (FINS)

Women can get ahead if they just think laterally. Sometimes, taking a sidestep is better for your career than an upward climb.

New Plan (Reuters)

Managing directors at Nomura won't be happy about the latest bonus rule. They'll now have to wait five years before cashing in the shares of their annual bonus. They used to have to wait three.

The Future of Goldman (Vanity Fair)

Here's yet another piece pondering the inevitable Goldman Sachs succession wars.

Veteran Hiring (WSJ)

Every finance firm wants to hire veterans. Goldman Sachs is the latest to detail its internship program for recent Iraq and Afghanistan vets.

Hopping Between Firms (Deal Journal)

UBS has hired J.P. Morgan banker Peter Baccile for its real estate, leisure and lodging group in the investment bank. Baccile spent 25 years at JPM.

Goodbye Power Suit (WSJ)

You don't need a navy pinstripe suit to show you're a woman in charge. Structured jackets, peplums and even florals can indicate you're not someone to be trifled with. Really. Florals.

Buzz Around the Office

Fall in Line (YouTube)

It's a bear cub love train.

List of the Day: Reasons to Quit

Here are actual reasons employees chose to leave their firms. We don't suggest you do the same.

1. An individual did not like the sound of file cabinets being slammed.

2. A person quit because he hated the carpet.

3. Someone felt the lobby area was too small.

(Source: OfficeTeam)