CC freezes associate lockstep and cuts NQ pay by 11%

How to thoroughly demoralise your staff...allow the March NQs to start on £66,600 then freeze salaries so the difference between someone who has almost two years' PQE at financial year end (30 April 2009) and an NQ is £600 before tax. I feel valued!

CC Associate -31 Mar 2009 | 14:04

Just be grateful you have a job.

Anonymous -31 Mar 2009 | 14:40

As I said at the beginning of all this, the Freshfreeze has set the market.

playftseforme -31 Mar 2009 | 14:56

Lets be honest CC Associate - at 2 years you're still in nappies and there probably isn't as much difference skillwise between an NQ and yourself as you'd like to imagine.

arthur -31 Mar 2009 | 14:58

I say that all affected MC associates should strike in protest against the pay freeze. They've fired the rest, so they shouldn't shy away from paying the best! Most of us aren't in this for the love of the law, the long hours or the mind-numbingly boring stuff that is expected of us as associates. We're in it for the money and the talented lot will do well to look to switch to US firms that are willing to flash the cash as soon as the economy turns the corner. There's no job security anyway in the MC any more, is there?

Mid Associate -31 Mar 2009 | 16:18

If you're in it for the money why didn't you join a US firm the first time around?

playftseforme -31 Mar 2009 | 16:24

The interesting question is whether Linklaters will follow suit or whether there will end up being a pay differential in the Magic Circle.

Shane Williams -31 Mar 2009 | 16:41

Are you not in it for the money? To answer the question - I had the option but decided to go for the MC as I was told that the training, work culture, job security and hours would be better at the MC. While the first two are debatable (and I don't really think differ all that much but admittedly wouldn't know for sure), the latter two are just rubbish. The work hours aren't really all that better than American firms at all and as for job security, the less said the better.

Mid Associate -31 Mar 2009 | 16:42

Reading these inane and self pitying comments, how can you escape being tarred with the same greedy tag as the bankers you are servile to?

notimpressed -01 Apr 2009 | 19:10