I had coffee today with a guy I started with in the markets in the 80s. I've never seen him looking so glum.

He works for a European bank in bond sales, and does a really good job - frankly you have to be pretty decent to have survived so long. But something has changed. He is, by his own admission, feeling burned out. It's the politics, the lack of decent payment prospects, and the soul-destroying lack of activity that are doing his head in.

It can't be that bad', I chirped, 'and, after all, it is the summer!'.

'No mate, you just don't get it. This game has changed', he replied. 'Us peripheral players are just too small, and our management are more keen to save their own jobs than to treat us fairly'.

So, when I read Sharokh Koussari's recent article on the City jobs market and bonus payments, it really struck a chord. The public don't realise that the payment of year-end bonuses really is a subjective thing. You can tick all the boxes in your job description, break all your revenue targets, and still they don't pay you! The media, of course, tend to focus on all the high profile cases where big money is involved, while most of us just dream of being awarded sign-ons, guaranteed bonuses, or just being on the right desk at the right time - where they pay you a million just to keep you quiet! But, I promise you, it never works out like that for the vast majority.

Most of us work hard for our money, and often have precious little guarantee that we will even get what's owed to us. The above-mentioned article provides a refreshing insight, in that it shows there are ways to force the issue with employers if bonus payments can be proved to be totally irrational or perverse. Now, of course, this kind of legal avenue will only generally work if you are leaving or have left a financial institution. Most of us don't spend much time whining to Human Resources about our pay - any more than we hire lawyers to force our employers' hands. But the payment of bonuses has to be made in a consistent and transparent way that squares with shareholder value. It also has to be an incentive for employees. It's getting that balance right that will prove difficult. My fear is that the government's 'Big Brother' attitude to bonuses will just provide another excuse for firms to make sure that the little people get screwed (again).

Not Every Banker Will Be Laughing All The Way To The Bank

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