City employees remain optimistic to anticipated bonus payments in 2007, according to research by financial recruitment specialist Martin Ward Anderson.

The research found that 30.9% of respondents felt that their 2007 bonus would be bigger than that paid last year, 38.4% thought it would be less, 17.6% said they felt it would be the same and 13.1% said they simply had no idea.

It found that front office employees are anticipating the biggest payouts, with 61.9% believing their bonuses would either be higher or the same as last year. Conversely, middle office employees are among the most pessimistic, with 53.3% believing it would be significantly less. Back office employees appear to remain reticent, with around one third believing that their bonuses would either be the same as last year or preferring not to give an opinion one way or the other.

Martin Ward Anderson director, Caroline Hudson, says: “While we are slightly surprised by how optimistic the City remains in light of the current economic climate, we must remember that market conditions within the banking and financial services sector have been relatively buoyant up to September of this year. This optimism is not yet being directly reflected, however, in the current recruitment market. Very few organisations are guaranteeing bonuses or offering sign-on incentives, which you do experience more at this time of year historically. From a candidate perspective we have not seen a noticeable increase in numbers registering and so we are concluding from this that the majority are playing a waiting game until the actual figures are announced at the end of the year.”

The regional analysis shows the Americas predicting the smallest payouts in 2007 (47.8%), with EMEA and Asia Pacific showing similar trends but at a less extreme level (36.4% and 32.2% respectively). This generally highlights the continued reliance on growth across EMEA and Asia Pacific as they persistently demonstrate their importance as evolving markets.