Wall Street - Another Reason Youth Shouldn't Head There for Careers

 The Wall Street Journal put the knock on working in Big Banking. The average managing director who doesn't oversee a group likely pulls down less than $2 million a year. In constrast, parnters in Big Law, such as Paul Weiss' Scott Barshay, can make between $15 million and $20 million annually. If they have the power their administrative duties would be limited. According to the posting and responses on Reddit Big Law Barshay has plenty of that: power.

Now, there's more. The financial media is reporting how insecure those jobs are in Big Banking. The reductions-in-force continue. 

Goldman Sachs is cutting loose about 125 managing directors around the world. JPMorgan Chase is laying off 40 dealmakers in North America. Once cut from the team, it's hard to get back. Everything such as models change so quickly on Wall Street. One former trader I coached had to train for another career path. Here is my article, published in O'Dwyer's Public Relations, on that difficult process. 

Not that layoffs haven't been happening in Big Law. There have also been delayed start dates. In addition, the rumors about stealth forms of terminations have picked up a head of steam on professional anonymous networks.

But the current activity doesn't replicate the carnage of 2008 - 2009. Essentially the leadership is trying to hold on so as not to wind up as back then with a shortage of talent when recovery kicks in. The process of reducing expenses by cutting manpower has been more brutal on Wall Steet. 

However, in both settings - Big Banking and Big Law - there are the ongoing complaints about extreme hours and extreme pressure. So, in decisions about what sector to build a career it could come down to Choose Your Poison. In addition, society has become less forgiving about what's perceived as failure. Here is my article, hot off the press, on that shift. On what path can youth envision a better shot at success? 

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