(IntegrityPress.org) – Wall Street executives saw their annual bonuses drop a bit last year, according to statements by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on March 19. DiNapoli estimated that the average cash bonus for high flying Wall Street tycoons was a whopping $176,500, a 2% drop from the previous year, despite an increase in profits.
That’s their end-of-year bonus, mind you. Their annual salaries are much higher.
DiNapoli suggested that the decrease in bonuses was due to the industry being “more cautious” with bonus payouts. The industry’s profits increased by 1.8% leading to a bonus pool of $33.8 billion for 2023. He added that the value was roughly equivalent to 2022 numbers. It’s a dramatic decline from 2020 numbers ($37.1 billion) as well as a spike in 2021 ($42.7 billion); that suggests pandemic policies were a boon to Wall Street.
DiNapoli added that Wall Street annual bonuses have a huge impact on New York City and state budgets, making up 7% and 27.4% of their tax base, respectively. He added that city and state officials anticipated the decline and accounted for it in their budget.
DiNapoli added that more people were returning to work in the office with 65% of folks in financial services reportedly spending their average work day at work. He said that number was lower (58%) for individuals in other industries according to data from Sept 2023. He estimated that Wall Street made up roughly 14% of the overall economic activity happening in NYC.
DiNapoli’s statement concluded by showing a slight increase in the number of people employed in the securities industry in NYC: 198,500, up from 191,600 in 2022. He estimated that just under 10% of the jobs in the city were related to the industry.
The city has had a rough time recovering from the fallout of pandemic related policies. Over half a million NYCers left the city for places like Florida and Texas, taking a chunk of the tax base with them. Illegal immigrants are also flooding the streets and subways, contributing to the rise in crime, making the city less appealing.
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