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1. They are all lying. They are not working productively for 95 hours a week. At most they are present for 95 hours a week. It is not humanly possible to main

1. They are all lying. They are not working productively for 95 hours a week. At most they are *present* for 95 hours a week. It is not humanly possible to maintain mental focus for that long. Everyone who says it is telling macho lies. It might be possible to get close to it for a week or two with stimulant drugs, but eventually you will have to pay the piper. 2. It is no secret that Goldman expects self-destructive levels of work from some of its employees. Everybody knows this. Former employees brag about keeping up with the punishing schedule. Future employees speak to each other about it before they start work. It is seen as a point of pride. "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." So while this is undoubtedly abusive behaviour by an employer, the employees are getting exactly what they signed up for.

albertshin 6y ago
I agree in the literal way, but if you're kept captive for 95 hours regardless, does the distinction of work vs being present really matter? I doubt they're able to schedule anything meaningful for personal growth/enjoyment (e.g. dinner with friends?). The end outcome is that it hurts the employee. The survey was for 13 people, but it still saddens me to see that they unanimously agreed on having negative relationships with friends/family due to their work. Those are harder (and sometimes impossible) to repair...
- coffeefirst 6y ago
  Right. Plus people vastly underestimate the long term health impact from that kind of lifestyle. The other thing is if you're a client, this should terrify you. Nobody working those kinds of hours can maintain anything resembling a clear head with good judgement.
- dempseye 6y ago
  They are not being kept captive. They are freely contracting to be in this situation. They presumably did well in university and are highly employable.
jswrenn 6y ago
Where do they claim to be "working productively for 95 hours a week"? And are these the "macho lies" you're referring to: - “I can’t sleep anymore because my anxiety levels are through the roof” - “My body physically hurts all the time and mentally I’m in a really dark place” - “Being unemployed is less frightening to me than what my body might succumb to if I keep up this lifestyle” It doesn't sound like this person knew the degree of abuse they were signing up for: - “I didn’t come into this job expecting a 9am-5pm’s, but I also didn’t expect consistent 9am-5am’s either” Nobody really signs up to be abused. They sign up because they're the sort of college grads who've handled every other challenge that's been thrown at them, and “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” doesn't sound any different.

1. They are all lying. They are not working productively for 95 hours a week. At most they are *present* for 95 hours a week. It is not humanly possible to main

albertshin 6y ago

I agree in the literal way, but if you're kept captive for 95 hours regardless, does the distinction of work vs being present really matter? I doubt they're able to schedule anything meaningful for personal growth/enjoyment (e.g. dinner with friends?). The end outcome is that it hurts the employee. The survey was for 13 people, but it still saddens me to see that they unanimously agreed on having negative relationships with friends/family due to their work. Those are harder (and sometimes impossible) to repair...

coffeefirst 6y ago
Right. Plus people vastly underestimate the long term health impact from that kind of lifestyle. The other thing is if you're a client, this should terrify you. Nobody working those kinds of hours can maintain anything resembling a clear head with good judgement.
dempseye 6y ago
They are not being kept captive. They are freely contracting to be in this situation. They presumably did well in university and are highly employable.

jswrenn 6y ago

Where do they claim to be "working productively for 95 hours a week"? And are these the "macho lies" you're referring to: - “I can’t sleep anymore because my anxiety levels are through the roof” - “My body physically hurts all the time and mentally I’m in a really dark place” - “Being unemployed is less frightening to me than what my body might succumb to if I keep up this lifestyle” It doesn't sound like this person knew the degree of abuse they were signing up for: - “I didn’t come into this job expecting a 9am-5pm’s, but I also didn’t expect consistent 9am-5am’s either” Nobody really signs up to be abused. They sign up because they're the sort of college grads who've handled every other challenge that's been thrown at them, and “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” doesn't sound any different.