Nearly 80% of City workers say they¹ll leave their job if they don¹t get the bonus they want this year, according to a survey by Financial Services recruiter Joslin Rowe.

The survey found that 70% of accountants will start looking for a new job that values their contributions more highly, compared with 43% last year.

Joslin Rowe managing director Tara Ricks (pictured) says: "Accountants are in a very strong position at the moment. They are massively in demand and, naturally, this is driving up their confidence.  We¹ve never seen such striking results from the bonus survey. You can forget the passive bean-counters stereotype. This year they are more likely to be feeling like City Slickers than grey number-crunchers."

Overall in the City, the percentage of employees prepared to stay in their current firm if their bonus does not live up to expectations has fallen. In total only 22% of employees said they¹d be prepared to stay in their current job this year, compared to 38% last year.

The number of people prepared to take a proactive stance to improve their bonus has also fallen dramatically. In 2006 21% said in the event of a disappointing bonus they¹d stay in the same job but aim to improve their personal performance, hoping their boss would notice next year. However, 2007 saw a more laissez-faire attitude with only 10% committing to improve their performance.

"With the high expectations for bonuses this year, it¹s no surprise that some people in City are going to be demanding. But expectations were very high last year, despite the fact that bonus season turned out to be a bit of a damp-squib," Ricks adds.