Financial institution of America is making modifications to its working hours insurance policies lower than a 12 months after the demise 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 demise to overwork, it has led Financial institution of America to reevaluate its hours and oversight construction.
In line with a report by the Wall Street Journal, Financial institution of America has now tasked choose senior bankers on the director stage and up with guaranteeing that junior staff, or associates and analysts, work inside the financial institution’s 80-hour workweek restrict.
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Funding bankers obtain six-figure compensation for his or her work. In line with Certainly, the average salary for an funding banker at Financial institution of America is $255,074 per 12 months. Junior bankers are analysts or associates, making anywhere from $160,00 to $475,000 a 12 months in whole compensation.
Working 80 hours per week means clocking in at around 7 a.m. and leaving the workplace round 8:30 p.m., six days every week. As compared, the typical American works 34 hours a week.
Working lengthy hours is the norm in funding banking. In line with a 2023 survey from the finance group web site Wall Road 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.
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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 instructed junior bankers to report managers who overworked them. In September 2024, the financial institution launched a time reporting tool that required junior bankers to log their each day actions in larger element, as a substitute of merely logging their weekly duties, to maintain observe of hours labored.
“We would like all of our junior bankers to have the very best expertise potential, studying from the teammates they work with and additional benefiting from the profession development and growth this function brings,” a Financial institution of America spokesperson instructed the WSJ.
Now, choose senior bankers will likely be accountable for supervising and managing junior banker workloads. A supply instructed the WSJ that executives are trying 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 primarily based on low efficiency final week, the corporate mentioned.
Financial institution of America employed 213,000 people globally, as of January.
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