City bonuses fall one per cent as national average rises
The amount paid out in bonuses to British workers in 2012/13 rose by one per cent to £36.9bn compared with the year before, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
The average bonus per employee in the period was 2012/13. Professionals working in finance and insurance earned the highest average bonus at £11,900 – nearly twice the second highest, mining and quarrying at £6,700. Education and health and social work were the lowest with average bonuses of less than £100 per employee.
However, the average bonuse in the finance and insurance fell by one per cent compared to the year before.
Other notable sectoral changes include transport and storage and manufacturing (textiles, leather and clothing), in which average bonuses increased by a quarter to £800 and electricity gas and water supply, where the average bonuse fell over ten per cent to £1,800.
Source: ONS
Tax changes meant that a number of businesses deferred bonus payments usually made in March to April this year. Thus, total bonus payouts for the period May 2012 to April 2013 was £38.6bn – an increase of four per cent compared with the year before.
The average private sector worker received £1,700 in bonuses in the period – more than five times the average public sector worker’s bonus of £300. Excluding financial services from the public sector (including temporarily nationalised banks), the average public sector worker’s bonus falls to £100.
Separately, new research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) out today suggested that the gender pay gap is widening, with the average female manager receiving a bonus of £3,029 – less than half the £6,442 received by the average male manager.
The report said the distortion was consistent even at senior levels, with female directors paid an average bonus of £36,270 compared to £63,700 for males.