I’m sure none of us are surprised, but people are still lining up to take the places of those who couldn’t take the pressure.
Most people not in finance don’t realize this, but finance is as big and as diverse a field as medicine, or information technology. The working conditions and stress levels vary dramatically between jobs, and pay is only loosely correlated with the stress levels.
Investment banking is only one of many jobs available in the finance sector, but is usually considered the most grueling., and the hours can be endless. Most people burnout or are asked to leave before making it to partner level. It’s sad that this bright young man didn’t see a way out.
In contrast, many traders have basically 9-5 jobs (if they work the US stock markets). The markets open at 9:30 and close by 4PM, so there is only preparation and settlement work to be done before and after the markets close. Can be highly stressful during trading hours though.
People who work in areas like Private Equity, Venture Capital, or Investment Management can have stress levels that range from high to very low, depending upon the firm. I have a relatively stress free 8-5 job, but the work is wonderfully intellectually challenging.
Why are Wall Street investment work hours so long? Is it because these firms don’t hire enough people?
Other industries conduct critical business 24/7. They have staff who work in shifts.
People wouldn’t believe how large (Fortune 100) companies are so cheap with spending money on hiring staff. Keeping overhead low is how they do it.
undergrad hires for finance jobs in Manhattan is super competitive and the reason for long hours is like so many things multifaceted… First I would say that “Wall Street” really does not exist anylonger, the the old school downtown financial district job is mostly long gone replaced by machines and algorithms while the investment banking jobs have shattered across many new firms both buyside and sellside with the old dominant firms exercising great sway in terms of market share but ever shrinking fees… Alas the wall street of old is fading away and like Advertising did becoming less and less prestigious for young graduates (50-60 years ago too grads who came to mAnhattan wanted to work in advertising or architecture, not Wall Street)
Anyhow enough of my rant… Long hours persist for young graduates mostly for two reasons. First the inefficiency of business hours meaning that during the day bankers and traders do deals or think of new products and then assign the drudge and number crunching to analysts and associates at the end of the day for review the next day. Secondly there is some right of passage I suppose like young medical interns. Old farts sort of figure if they pulled those sick hours their younglings similarly must suffer… Hehe