In New York, the rebellion of the young bankers of Goldman Sachs against the “100 hour week”

They are the elite, the rising generation, the one who climbs the steps of the most emblematic of investment banks, the Holy Grail of finance. Those we called the “golden boys” in the 80s, all promised to golden careers, yet show serious states of mind today. In a document circulating on social networks, thirteen of them describe endless days and claim the “80 hour week”, estimating to make close to 100 today. All explain that their mental and physical health has deteriorated considerably. “At one point, I didn’t eat, I didn’t shower, I didn’t do anything other than work from morning until after midnight”, tells one of them.

We might as well say it clearly: in American opinion, even in circles close to finance, the demands of our young bankers in terms of work / personal life balance are difficult to pass. What many describe as the complaints of a high-paid elite have at times been derided in a country where unemployment has skyrocketed, where the recovery still excludes millions of people and at the risks faced by those who cannot work. home, such as caregivers or supermarket workers. “When you take a job in investment banking, you know what to expect”, says an anonymous Goldman-Sachs employee, hired for three years.

You can’t find more compassion in NYU University Marketing Professor Scott Galloway, “They are at an age where you don’t count your hours, hoping to earn $ 500,000 a year in five years. If they want to divide their hours by two and their wages by four, they can go to Ernst & Young or to Deloitte . “ (two large consulting firms, editor’s note). However, many white-collar workers have identified with these young people in finance, who endure endless days punctuated by multiple meetings on Zoom.

Yet the message from the juniors of “GS” goes beyond criticism of a firm known for its harshness, highlighting the difficult working conditions of many financial institutions in times of Covid. And the revolt seems to have found resonance beyond the walls of the investment bank. To avoid “burn-out”, the new boss of Citigroup bank, Jane Fraser, this week banned video meetings on Friday and urged her employees to take vacations. She herself will take a few days at the end of March to come back “with a cooler brain”, she assured. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has vowed to reinforce young analysts and better enforce the rule banning work on Saturdays … a policy that has been theoretically in place for several years now, perhaps our young recruits hadn’t they received the memo.