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In Sum: Jones Day is cutting off year-end bonuses for staff, and instead following a performance-based model, much like associates. All pay is still black-box, obviously.

Considering the comments on ATL are typically useless ("Hey Elie, you're fat" and "FIRST!" are always crowd favorites), I was wondering if anyone in TLS land had any inside (or educated outside) perspective on what this means for the firm, if anything, and how it might affect things moving forward. A few commenters on ATL indicated JD was doing stealth layoffs, etc, but can anyone from JD or otherwise speak to it? I'm heading to one of their TX offices this summer for an SA position, which is why I'm posting anon.

I would imagine it means they are looking to cut costs somehow. It is easy to cut costs by doing a "performance based" bonus, just make the reviews harder for the "non-performers." Essentially, the really great staff would get the bonus they normally would get under lockstep, then the non-exceptional staff would get lower bonuses. If you think about it, it is a really easy way to save money, because instead of having a mandatory bonus structure in place, all you have to do is tell them "they are not performing."

What it means for you is anyone's guess. My guess is it doesn't mean a whole lot. It isn't a surprise to anyone that we are in a rough economy and firms are looking for ways to cut costs. Jones Day is still one of the top grossing firms, just go there and bust your ass.

Is there merit to Jones Day's claim that they do give bonuses, but spread the bonuses out throughout the year by putting bonuses into associates' base salaries? Or are associates base salaries the same as they are at other firms, i.e. Jones Day does not in fact give bonuses? This question obviously ignores the black-box compensation thing...

Anonymous User wrote:Is there merit to Jones Day's claim that they do give bonuses, but spread the bonuses out throughout the year by putting bonuses into associates' base salaries? Or are associates base salaries the same as they are at other firms, i.e. Jones Day does not in fact give bonuses? This question obviously ignores the black-box compensation thing...

Jones Day gives bonuses in markets where bonuses are typical (like NYC) and they spread them over the course of the year. Bonuses are initially uniform (lockstep), but then transition to a merit-based system. Jones Day does not typically pay bonuses in smaller markets where bonuses are not common (eg, Cleveland).