I read this article shared by @BKSquared and besides being saddened, it definitely made me think of this thread. There’s hazing in Greek organizations and bands and sports teams and the military and, I would argue, in investment banking.
Having people work 100+ hours a week on a regular basis, pulling all-nighters on a regular basis (including multiple a week), telling people not to record their hours so that HR doesn’t intervene, retaliating against people for taking any of their vacation days…I think these practices have continued because, as the WSJ wrote:
One major impediment is senior bankers who see the early years as their profession’s rite of passage. That prompts some of them to ignore safeguards meant to protect the people who work for them.
It is such a common excuse in instances of hazing (I was hazed and I lived through it/I was fine, and it helps build a bond between us, etc, etc, etc.). But two wrongs don’t make a right, and it’s time for the adults in the room to make some positive changes.