Study shows bonus optimism fading away in Greater China

44% of the respondents said they expect bonuses to fall in the future. 

eFinancialCareers, the leading global career site network for professionals working in the investment banking, asset management and securities industries, announced Monday the results of its latest Bonus Expectations Survey in Greater China. Expectations are high: over half (53%) of surveyed finance professionals expect their bonus in 2011 will be higher or the same in comparison to the bonus they earned in 2010. Looking further ahead, however, confidence seems to ebb: over four in 10 (44%) respondents predict bonuses will decrease over the next three years.

Over eight in 10 (83%) finance professionals in Greater China expect to receive a bonus this year. Nearly a third (31%) anticipate an increase in comparison to the previous year. A similar proportion (30%) believe their bonus will be less, while just over two in 10 (22%) think it will be the same as last year. The remaining 17% don’t expect to receive a bonus at all this year.

In comparison to the region, finance professionals in Greater China appear slightly more optimistic. In Singapore, a third of respondents (33%) take a more conservative view and expect their bonus to decrease this year – this compares to 30% in both, Greater China and Australia.

As regards compensation, nearly three quarters of respondents (72%) had a change in their base salary in the past year. Out of those, nearly nine in 10 (87%) received an increase in salary.

Asked to make a prediction about bonuses sizes over the next three years, 44% say they expect bonuses to decrease in the future, 26% anticipate bonuses to stay the same, and only 16% predict that bonuses will increase. Over three quarters (76%) of the respondents cited market conditions as the key factor that concerns them in relation to their bonus, believing that the tumultuous market will potentially lead to a downward influence on total compensation, according to a eFinancialCareers report.

George McFerran, Head of Asia Pacific, eFinancialCareers, commented on the survey results and current market conditions: “Even when market conditions are tough financial institutions must consider how to reward their best talent in order to retain them – the payment of bonuses is an important part of that process. Equally professionals are aware that bonuses are based on performance, their sentiment on future bonuses is a good indicator of current market confidence.”