COMP NEWS – 2021 compensation bonuses for Wall Street employees have been higher than they have been in over a decade. The average bonus for a Wall Street employee jumped up by 20%.

The average bonus on Wall Street jumped 20% last year to the highest level since 2006, the New York State comptroller reported on Wednesday.

In total, Wall Street’s overall pool for compensation bonuses rose to a staggering 7 billion dollars.

However, in 2021, the overall bonus pool increased by 21% to $45 billion during the traditional December-March bonus season, compared to $37.1 billion in 2020, according to the report.

Wall Street currently makes up around 20% of private-sector compensation in New York, while its total employee count is only around 5% of private-sector employees.

The securities industry makes up one-fifth of private-sector wages in New York City, despite comprising only 5% of private-sector employment, the report said.

Wall Street compensation contributed around 18% of all total taxes collected in the state of New York.

Wall Street contributed about 18% of all the taxes collected in New York for 2021, and it should help New York City beat its expectations for income tax revenue, the report found.

Despite the massive increase in compensation bonuses, this upwards trend is not expected to continue into 2022.

A number of factors, including inflation, the ongoing recovery and economic fallout from Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, are expected to weigh on Wall Street bonuses this year. New York City and state estimates currently predict that incentive compensation packages for securities industry workers in 2022 will fall by 16% on average.

To read more about the biggest Wall Street bonuses since 2006, click here.

For more Comp News, see our recent posts.