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My husband is also in finance and his bonus is a huge portion of his compensation (approximately 30%) so I get how important the bonus is. Given the situation, you have every right to feel the way you do. This may be a sign that it's time to start looking.

If your bonus was essentially touted as part of your salary when you took your job, then I absolutely understand your frustration. My husband used to work in finance, and like @Meowkers said, the "bonus" was basically presented as an integral part of his compensation. Without a bonus, it would have been similar to getting a pay cut. Alternatively, I have gotten a bonus both years I've worked at my current job, but I didn't even know that was a possibility when I took the job. It wasn't a factor in me accepting. So if next year we don't get a bonus, I think I'd be less justified in being upset because it's not an expected part of my compensation, if that makes sense. I think it would be good to at least look around to see if you can find something better. But I always think it doesn't hurt to keep your eyes open for a new opportunity!

I don't know. Bonuses are never a guarantee so even though a certain percentage might be part of your compensation package, I don't view that as meaning that you will always get that money and can expect it.

When DH's company funds bonuses at 100%, he would get a bonus of 20% of his salary (written into his compensation). That would be a huge amount of money for us. But we always have zero expectation of seeing a penny of that. Bonuses are not a guarantee (his company funds bonuses based on achieving internal goals). So whenever he gets any portion of that, it is just a nice extra.

@Mrs D: I didn't say that I agree with it. My company could have afforded to pay salary increases, they just choose not too. I am in accounting so I see everything. They had the money. I think it was a case of a new CEO, merger of multiple companies (hence the layoffs), and making him look better on paper.

I just think they forget to look after the little guy. Which is another reason that I don't like working for such a huge company.

We never plan on bonuses for this reason, so easy to be cut at any time. It sucks, but reality. I'm sorry.

If it was part of your agreement when you took the job then yes I would be livid!

A few yrs ago our company did the same thing - no bonus, no raise, even took away their match for the 401K but all of their Public announcements were like "We made XX Billion dollars this year"
so yeah.....

I think the point the OP is making is this is a just another sign of changes to the company that she's not liking. I think it's really important you like the company you work for or else it becomes really hard to become engaged. I work in accounting/finance also for a Fortune 100 company and I can tell you this upcoming year most likely will be really tumultuous - our company is cutting back expenses and a ton of other companies are also. I'm fully expecting bonuses to be lower (but not cut). How long until bonuses will be paid out or announced? If it's just a little while longer, I would wait to see what they announce. You don't want to leave only to miss out on it if they end up having one. If they announce they're not having one, then maybe evaluate your situation and put out feelers to see what the market is like for a new job.

I work in government so I never get a bonus but I would be annoyed in your shoes. I would probably start looking for another job since it doesn't sound like your company culture is going in a direction you are satisfied with. I'm sorry!

@Mrs D: My experience (almost 20 years) in Finance has basically taught me this: when the company is in the black, the area that made the money is rewarded, everyone else doesn't get a piece of the pie. when the company is the red, the bad is distributed among everyone, not just the area that had the losses.

In this case, I'd just start looking. Seems like they're talking out of both sides of their mouth on this one.

This happened to my husband's company this year. I would definitely start looking elsewhere just to see what is out there.

I left my last job when I got a lower raise then in the past and then that was followed up with a lower bonus then typical. I was super pissed and glad I moved despite liking everything else. You have to pay the people who do the work for you or they won't last. My last company was a small business who is really felt my departure but oh well. I gave them every chance to rectify it and they chose not to. Now they pay me a ridiculously high hourly rate to do contract work for them. So, I win!

@Anagram: Haha, I just pounced on this thread!

@Mrs D: Here are my thoughts:

1. So far you are basing this on rumors, so use it as an opportunity to think through possible scenarios but don't assume that the rumors are true. Keep an open mind during your comp discussion.

2. If you get a goose egg, you should come up with a professional way to communicate your disappointment. Figure out your thesis, gather supporting evidence, etc. etc. Communicate this to your boss. Be as calm and collected as you can muster. Rehearse this in advance if possible. Imply, but do not state or threaten, that you feel like this is a last straw of sorts, and express your disappointment given how much you otherwise enjoy your job and your company. It's ok to wait to do this; you don't need to do it during the initial comp discussion. You are more likely to be less emotional if you sleep on it first. Basically, you are giving your manager the opportunity to address your disappointment before you...

3. Look for another job. (If you live in the NYC area, work in fixed income technology, and know SQL send me your resume!)

4. Once you get an offer, decide whether or not you want to give your company the opportunity to counter. (Usually this is a bad idea.)

5. PM me if you want to join my FB group about women facing discrimination at work. You might be able to brainstorm further there.

6. More generally, I encourage you to think about opportunities outside of large banks. In my opinion, opportunities in finance are migrating out of those companies. (I used to work at two different large banks and now work for a small/medium-sized financial technology company.

This was my last/current company.

Last company was slowly going under so they didn't hand out bonuses, 401k matches, or salary raises. When the company went into a joint venture, we all knew those probably wouldn't be feasible the 1st year due to start up costs. But here we are 3.5 years later and making money, (although not a lot) but we have yet to see any payouts. Some of us haven't gotten a raise in over 5 years and the company doesn't believe in increasing pay to adjust for the cost of living either! They're also wanting to sell us so they're trying everything to beef up the bottom line, which sucks.

They don't reward their employees, but they have no problem buying company "swag" for us like cups and mousepads, or throwing random office events like cornhole and will fly other participants in from out of state offices and pay for their flight and hotel. Say what?!

I will give them they made pretty good improvements in our health benefits for 2016 so there's that! But salary increases are still not happening and bonuses are paid on based on how well the company performed and if the firm reached their goal. Sadly, company goals are always far fetched so completing it is kind of difficult. And when the firm doesn't complete the goal, the deduct the bonus money pool and it trickles down from there (how did your department perform? How did you do as an individual? etc).

I'm definitely looking to change soon, but I'm currently pregnant and the flexibility I have here is pretty amazing.

Not ok. My husband works in finance and I used to as well. We always got bonuses, even in not so great performance years. The bonuses were just smaller. You don't want people to start jumping ship just because you have one bad year. So I wouldn't take this as a good sign for your company if they aren't giving out any bonuses.

I would look around. Regardless of the no-okayness of not getting a bonus under these circumstances, I find that one I start to feel that resentful about a job situation, there's really no going back.

@Mrs D: Oh, if you're pregnant then you might need to wait and interview during your maternity leave.

Oh, and to directly answer your question, no I don't think you're being irrational!

I always think its good to keep your options open in terms of employment. I guess I just see it as every day you show up to a job, you are making a choice to be there. If your employer isn't treating you the way you believe you should be treated, then find someone who will or work for yourself! You don't owe it to them to stay there if its not meeting your needs. If they really want you, they will figure out a way to keep you.