Will new executive pay rules cause a brain drain?

By Rachel Beck

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Klein2 at 02:04 PM JST - 24th October

Banks can operate quite well with about a third of their staff. Cut em all loose and let them work for a living.
Goodguy at 04:07 PM JST - 24th October

Klein,

Are you saying that 2/3 of bank staffs do nothing all day and get paid. Where do I sign up?
noborito at 04:22 PM JST - 24th October

Seeing their companies are in trouble, even with billions in bailout money, I don't think they have much of a brain.
DeepAir65 at 08:00 PM JST - 24th October

Already happening at RBS in the UK http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aeb960ee-8317-11de-a24e-00144feabdc0.html

How are your going to turn a bank around if your hands are tied behind your back and you're gagged?

And Klein2 - what are you on? Maybe Japanese banks could cut staff that drastically but I know that most foreign ones could barely get the job done before the cuts in the last few years.
cow76 at 10:18 PM JST - 24th October

Possibly some execs will leave to find better jobs but any company thinking of hiring will first think this: if they left their companies because times were tough, why would they not jump ship a second time? Ford could poach some executives but it's unlikely for this reason and also because those execs have an established losing record.
DeepAir65 at 08:05 AM JST - 25th October

More important than people leaving is how can these banks recruit to fill any senior positions vacant? Don't see many execs at GS or MS thinking what a great opportunity - I can go get quarter of my package elsewhere!

Put these caps in and you may as well close the banks.
WilliB at 01:32 PM JST - 25th October

Sure, but they have chairpersons Obama and Pelosi to run GM now, so who needs more talent?

You witnessed their brilliant thinking already in the "cash for clunkers" program.
GW at 01:34 PM JST - 25th October

I dont feel sorry for these speculators, all they do is shuffle $$/stocks etc around & around until nobody really has a clue what any of it means & during this process they collect commissions on each move,　these scammers bank theirs & at some point the markets crash & all that supposed cash gets wacked & then the process repeats.

Wall Street these days is only in it for themselves, they dont add anything of value, they willl do anything that will generate commissions, thats it, they cud give a rats a$$ whether comapanies & real people get burned along they way, they are just in it for wall street.

It used to be they kept markets in check & companies on their toes but those days a long past
Junnama at 04:03 PM JST - 25th October

Isn't it true that the executives are lucky to have a job at all? Their companies should be bankrupt and out of business - now we're to feel sorry for them because their pay isn't good enough? I am very confused by this...
whitepocky at 04:09 PM JST - 25th October

Uh, yea. These companies received bailouts during the worst modern crisis and now have their companies moving along. Now you cut the pay from what they are promised? Of course they are leaving.

azzassa, they were promised nothing, just to remain in business. Talk about taking from the hand that feeds the mouth. They should have left months ago, with a boot behind their backside for poor performance.
onewrldoneppl at 12:57 AM JST - 26th October

q: Will new executive pay rules cause a brain drain?

a: no. because executives have no brains (and no hearts) there's nothing to drain. next question, please.

over-paid scheisters who eat (more than their fare share) and run. why don't they get real jobs, and contribute like normally-salaried people?
sfjp330 at 03:04 AM JST - 27th October

If you were contracted to teach with certain goals and you reached those goals, you would expect to be paid. Especially if you helped your company during a major crisis. This is a great lesson for people who think that executives are paid for doing nothing. They will leave and try their luck elsewhere. Good for them! If Cleo were running a multi-billion dollar enterprise and his pay were cut for political reasons, I would say the same thing. Go where you are appreciated. Azzasa:

Over 100 major banks have closed so far this year in the U.S. The major changes of proposal is not primarily related to lower salaries but a deferred payment of large stock options which is for longer term (5-10 years) before you can sell it. This is a major sticking point for executives who want short term options which is being taken away from them. The U.S. companies that received bailout money will have to adjust to longer term business plan, similar to Europeans and Asian companies to stabilize their business. This is a good thing for these companies. Especially with the current economy, you will not see mass exodus of quality executives job hunting.
gonemad at 09:47 AM JST - 27th October

Will new executive pay rules cause a brain drain?

No, I really don't think so. There will be enough of now lower rank managers within those companies themselves who are at least as capable doing the job of directing the companies. Those with strategic thinking will happily replace those who now leave at the top, even if for the time being they will not receive outstanding compensations. Last but not least, don't fool yourself into believing that money is all that is attractive about the executives' jobs. Power and prestige are at least as important.
Cliffy at 10:58 PM JST - 27th October

What brain drain? If they are that good/smart, they wouldn't cause all these in the beginning. Or, perhaps, they are too smart for their own good or good of human kind. If they are that worry, they could always out source, I am sure there are people in another part of the world willing to work for one-tenth of their pay and smarter and better that those self proclaimed smarties in wall street.
ca1ic0cat at 01:43 AM JST - 28th October

Given what the "masters of the universe" bankers have thought up so far I would like to see them leave the industry. A few leaders more interested in their shareholders, their country and societal responsibilities would not be taking the foolish risks that the previous loosers have gotten into.

Drain their brains!