BCG NAMR has cut expensing for all consultants irrespective of hour or length of work day (if we work at home, no expensing - which applies to almost all cases). No weekly or daily stipend. How have other MBB/consulting firms managed expensing/perks in Covid?

likefunny
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Same with Bain, in line with IRS policy.

It’s not unjust in the sense that it’s not an enormous issue by world standards, nor in the sense that our firms are really cheating us. But, it’s one way in which effective consultant pay has fallen this year, considering:

- No travel perks such as points and alt-travel
- No meals
- Reduced bonus / profit-sharing in many cases
- Bigger than anything for me: the intangible value of a smart, fun community to be around all day.

It adds up to a picture of “this is below the market-clearing set of rewards that I signed up for with this job”. Or, said more simply, 2020 in consulting seriously fails the test of “I would have signed up for this job as an undergrad knowing the reality of the situation”.

likefunny

CPL - no is in hysterics. And COVID doesn’t give a rip about the election.

likesmart

I see it as a huge perk to sleep in my own bed, eat healthy food instead of restaurant stuff, and not have to wake up for 7am flights. No points or per diems is a fine trade off for me. I buy groceries on weekend and cook meals ahead for the week. My diet is much healthier as a result. Works well for me. Different perspectives I guess.

likehelpful

@MC1, true! And for many it's much earlier. 7am departure for me means 4am alarm, which screws up the whole night before, etc.

I'd take a 7am call in place of that any day! Although 7 is still 2 hours too early. :)

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What's working from home? I'm living at work.

likefunnysmart

Everyone else:

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likefunny

This feels like that "wait you guys are getting paid?" meme.

likefunny

Same thing. You work more but get less perks. The perks used to make the job more bearable, now not anymore

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Great to hear how this is so much better than traveling for people with kids (though I’m sure it’s super stressful having kids going to school over Zoom). For those of us who are single and live alone, it’s just lonely.

Wasn’t this news like four months ago?

Were you ever able to expense WFH? For us it’s not a cut - it’s just the same policy and that feels frustrating because we didn’t used to pay for our own food Mon-Thu.

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Yes this is exactly the same situation, but there is a small proportion of associates and consultants that feel this is unfair, and somehow think this is not the norm outside BCG.

likefunny

Lol OP. This went just it’s gone in our bowl. Does the current situation mean we have lower effective comp - yes. Does it also come with some benefits - yes. Do people value those trade offs differently - yes. Does framing the problem this way come across as whiny and entitled - yes.

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I think they were looking for affirmation that BCG is awful and everyone else is getting to continue living the pre-Covid highlife.

funny

You were expecting this to go quite a bit differently, weren’t you OP?

likefunny

From many many conversations with friends, teammates, and in our bowl, I can say OP is in the minority.

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FWIW OP, I miss the free Google meals and we can’t expense a penny for food or coffee. We won’t be back in office till H2 2021, and my credit card bill hates me since I now have meaningfully higher, non-zero COL expenses M-F. 🥺

likehelpful

OP - what expenses were you looking for BCG to cover while you are at home?

For example, if you work 10 hours, do you want BCG to pick up your meals at home? Do you want them to cover office supplies?

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OW1 I agree. Especially when you add in the commute to the kitchen.

likefunny

What’s BCG NAMR?

likefunny

North America

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Do tax laws allow you to expense meals when you're working at home? BCG may not have a choice in their policy.

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Same at EY.

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Informative topic handled mostly respectfully with some good insight into perceived value—being a consultant has lost a lot of luster, but it also is relatively high paying job in an uncertain economy. Also I may be spending too much time on the politics bowl.

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Great points M1.

Interesting to see how many perceive meals-while-travelling as a ‘perk’. On the road it’s an obvious requirement (a make-up for a need / inconvenience, not a perk) but not all engagements are on the road. It’s never promised as a ‘perk’ partly for that reason.

While WFH is a change for many, COVID did not change the absence of meal expensing for local engagements. For those who used to expense in-office team lunches even in-town, these days we’ve sometimes organized ‘team meals’ where everyone ordered to their place on UberEats on a budget (not every day but fun and acceptable to do)

Quick clarification: many consulting staff expense most meals, etc on local cases... but not all (when I was a C on a local case on a special meal plan diet, I was explicitly denied those expenses — maybe it’s different now, but I was told that was like expensing my groceries, which is against policy)

And also, our Business Support Team rarely get to expense such things unless working late in the office or as part of a team thing.

You ought to be able to claim some of your wfh in terms of home office (space, internet, utilities, etc). I’d look at that as some form of balance as far as the IRS is concerned.

By pre-COVID rules your current wfh space may not always qualify but I would bet this will be addressed - minimum via lawsuit as we get into tax season 2020.

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