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Why not negotiate with the boss to work an off-hours shift if your friend was going to "sit around all day" while the boss was out? If your friend was an hourl

Why not negotiate with the boss to work an off-hours shift if your friend was going to "sit around all day" while the boss was out? If your friend was an hourly worker, the IB was wasting money.

roel_v 11y ago
Yeah because ibanking is an hourly job rollseyes
pjc50 11y ago
It's an investment bank. It's not "work" in the sense of any of the hourly paid jobs; it's a form of highly sophisticated emotional labour that is dealmaking for very large amounts of money. In this kind of environment, it's very important to show "commitment", in the emotional sense, by being there. What the person is actually doing is irrelevant, it matters only that they're foregoing whatever else they could be doing with their life in order to make this deal.
- elros 11y ago
  > it matters only that they're foregoing whatever else they could be doing with their life in order to make this deal That is so sad it almost makes me weep. I am thankful every day that I get to both work with cutting-edge tech, being productive, and also have a very healthy work/life balance.
  - pjc50 11y ago
    That kind of finance industry lifestyle is more like joining a cult or a Maoist revolutionary organisation, except the devotion is to money rather than any other idea. I'd feel sorry for these people but they're generally educated, intelligent people with other choices who've chosen this lifestyle because they believe it will make them rich. Not comfortably well off, rich. They're not workers locked in a garment factory with no fire exits or immigrants crossing the desert in the hope of finding a job to feed their family.
roymurdock 11y ago
It's basically hazing. I doubt many entry-level IBers are in a position to ask their boss for anything, and they work grueling hours (even if it's inefficient) to prove they have the willpower and drive to make it up the ranks in finance. So the IB isn't wasting money, it's actively selecting for the most dedicated/hungry workers.

Why not negotiate with the boss to work an off-hours shift if your friend was going to "sit around all day" while the boss was out? If your friend was an hourly worker, the IB was wasting money.

roel_v 11y ago

Yeah because ibanking is an hourly job rollseyes

pjc50 11y ago

It's an investment bank. It's not "work" in the sense of any of the hourly paid jobs; it's a form of highly sophisticated emotional labour that is dealmaking for very large amounts of money. In this kind of environment, it's very important to show "commitment", in the emotional sense, by being there. What the person is actually doing is irrelevant, it matters only that they're foregoing whatever else they could be doing with their life in order to make this deal.

elros 11y ago
> it matters only that they're foregoing whatever else they could be doing with their life in order to make this deal That is so sad it almost makes me weep. I am thankful every day that I get to both work with cutting-edge tech, being productive, and also have a very healthy work/life balance.
- pjc50 11y ago
  That kind of finance industry lifestyle is more like joining a cult or a Maoist revolutionary organisation, except the devotion is to money rather than any other idea. I'd feel sorry for these people but they're generally educated, intelligent people with other choices who've chosen this lifestyle because they believe it will make them rich. Not comfortably well off, rich. They're not workers locked in a garment factory with no fire exits or immigrants crossing the desert in the hope of finding a job to feed their family.

roymurdock 11y ago

It's basically hazing. I doubt many entry-level IBers are in a position to ask their boss for anything, and they work grueling hours (even if it's inefficient) to prove they have the willpower and drive to make it up the ranks in finance. So the IB isn't wasting money, it's actively selecting for the most dedicated/hungry workers.