Citigroup's investment-banking division announced base-salary raises at junior to middle levels, Insider has learned. The move comes as Wall Street's largest banks follow similar moves by smaller rivals earlier this spring.
Citi's banking, capital markets, and advisory division will raise base compensation for most vice presidents, associates, and analysts starting on July 1.
The increases will show up in eligible employees' August payments, Tyler Dickson and Manuel Falcó, the division's coheads, wrote in a memo to employees on Friday that Insider reviewed.
A person familiar with the matter told Insider that raises would range from $15,000 to $25,000 across the three levels. First-year analysts specifically will now make $100,000 before bonuses, the person said.
"Our teams are working extraordinarily hard to protect the financial system and to help our clients through this difficult period," Dickson told Insider in an interview on Friday. "With that comes an enormous burden of work effort, and doing that remotely, in many cases ... certainly adds an element of stress."
The announcement comes at a time of "an extraordinary set of demands" on bankers, Dickson said, and of high deal volumes across banks. To meet demand, his firm, like others in the industry, has been eyeing ways to shore up its desks with reinforcements.
"Simply with these volumes, we need more help," Dickson said, adding that the firm had been "creative" in stepping up recent recruiting efforts.
In their memo, Dickson and Falcó praised the importance of younger talent.
"BCMA program vice presidents, associates, and analysts are a highly valued resource, contributing greatly to the ongoing success and strength" of the division, they wrote.
"Especially in this current environment, it is important we recognize your talent and efforts to drive our business' success and serve our clients."
The raises will vary depending on location — the bank said it would send employees in each region more information about how they'd be disbursed.
The two leaders also said they were committed to the division's BCMA wellness initiative to protect employees' weekends and holidays and maintain the hybrid work model that the bank announced earlier this year.
"We added, for banking, 'My Week,' which was to make sure that our analysts, associates, and vice presidents were taking vacation, unplugging, and physically and/or mentally getting some separation from their 24/7 responsibilities," Dickson told Insider.
"With some degree of a hybrid model, we should not only be the best employer for people who'd wanted to be in this business, but maybe the best employer for people who wouldn't have thought about being in this business," Dickson added.
Citi's move comes on the heels of JPMorgan Chase's base-comp increases for its investment-banking juniors earlier this week.
Insider first reported on Monday that JPMorgan had bumped first-year analyst salaries to $100,000 before bonuses, according to people familiar with the situation. Posts on social media indicated that the firm's $15,000 raises would also apply to second- and third-year analysts.
Dickson said Citi's decision to bump salaries was not prompted by JPMorgan's news and had been in the works for several months.
Insider has been tracking all the financial-services firms — from Bank of America to Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse — that have offered employees raises or special bonuses in recent months, as Wall Street battles simultaneous pressures from a competitive labor market and burnout.
