Financial institution of America is making adjustments to its working hours insurance policies lower than a 12 months after the dying of 35-year-old junior banker Leo Lukenas III, who had reportedly put in 110-hour weeks for a month whereas engaged on a $2 billion acquisition.
Although the coroner’s report did not tie his dying to overwork, it has led Financial institution of America to reevaluate its hours and oversight construction.
In accordance with a report by the Wall Avenue Journal, Financial institution of America has now tasked choose senior bankers on the director stage and up with making certain that junior staff, or associates and analysts, work inside the financial institution’s 80-hour workweek restrict.
Associated: Financial institution of America Threatens Staff Who Will not Return to the Workplace With ‘Disciplinary Motion’
Funding bankers obtain six-figure compensation for his or her work. In accordance with Certainly, the typical wage for an funding banker at Financial institution of America is $255,074 per 12 months. Junior bankers are analysts or associates, making anyplace from $160,00 to $475,000 a 12 months in whole compensation.
Working 80 hours per week means clocking in at round 7 a.m. and leaving the workplace round 8:30 p.m., six days every week. As compared, the typical American works 34 hours every week.
Working lengthy hours is the norm in funding banking. In accordance with a 2023 survey from the finance neighborhood web site Wall Avenue Oasis, first-year funding bankers reported working a mean of 77.12 hours every week and sleeping 5.98 hours each night time. In the meantime, some folks have claimed companies can demand as a lot as 120 hours per week.
Associated: Large Wall Avenue Banks Are Limiting Workweek Hours — to 80
A WSJ investigation in August uncovered that Financial institution of America supervisors pressured junior bankers to underreport what number of hours they labored. Following the article, Financial institution of America advised junior bankers to report managers who overworked them. In September 2024, the financial institution launched a time reporting software that required junior bankers to log their day by day actions in larger element, as a substitute of merely logging their weekly duties, to maintain observe of hours labored.
“We wish all of our junior bankers to have one of the best expertise potential, studying from the teammates they work with and additional benefiting from the profession progress and growth this position brings,” a Financial institution of America spokesperson advised the WSJ.
Now, choose senior bankers shall be accountable for supervising and managing junior banker workloads. A supply advised the WSJ that executives are wanting into different methods to avoid wasting staff time, together with utilizing AI instruments to assist put together pitch decks and monetary forecasts.
Financial institution of America laid off 150 junior funding bankers based mostly on low efficiency final week, the corporate stated.
Financial institution of America employed 213,000 folks globally, as of January.
Associated: Financial institution of America Is Elevating Its Minimal Wage. Here is What Full-Time Salaries Will Look Like.
