Citigroup forces UK junior bankers to take two weeks off by October
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Citigroup has asked its junior bankers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to take two weeks off work by the end of September.
The measures, introduced in July and first reported by Bloomberg, form part of the Wall Street giant’s bid to improve working conditions for its youngest employees.
The bank is fighting to retain junior bankers amid a pay war with rivals that has seen average salaries jump above £100,000 for new recruits.
Citigroup has also pledged analysts and associates in the region a work-free weekend each month – which runs from 5pm on a Friday until 9am on the Monday.
It comes after Goldman Sachs staffers asked the firm to limit their hours to 80-per week, which soon prompted major banks, now including Citigroup, to up their pay and conditions.
The pandemic has induced a shakeup of work-home life expectations from across sectors, with freshly homebound workers trying to avoid burn-out.
Junior bankers’ wages have also become a hot topic among the world’s biggest financial institutions – with Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Citigroup all hiking base pay this year.