Are consultants finally making more than bankers in 2023?
Senior consultants can expect to earn well over $1m, career coaching firm Management Consulted has found.
The company’s 2023 management consulting salaries report found that consulting salaries increased significantly in 2022. Whilst salaries tend to grow annually (and have grown 14 out of 15 previous years surveyed by Management Consulted), last year they expanded by ~10%, compared to the usual 2-4%.
Inflation clearly has something to do with. So, we suspect does the substantial increase in banking salaries since 2020. - Consultancy firms and banks typically compete for the same people.
So who earns the most? Using figures sourced from Management Consulted and banks' regulatory pay filings for Europe, we've plotted average compensation (salary plus bonus) by years of experience of bankers and consultants in the chart below. The answer is that bankers always earn the most and that the longer you stay in banking, the greater the pay disparity with consultants.
Management Consulted itself acknowledges that bankers earn more, saying that consultants who go into financial services can expect a 30% pay uptick. This is confirmed, too, by our analysis of pay for MBAs going into consulting vs. finance.
There are reasons beyond pay for working in consulting though. - The lifestyle is often better. 60 hour weeks are the norm, compared to 80 hours plus in banking jobs.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: Zeno.Toulon@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance.
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