FT readers respond: burnout during the Covid pandemic

A lot of my friends who don’t work in finance always tell me if I can’t do my job in the normal working day then either I’m not doing it right or my boss isn’t managing correctly.

I’m starting to think they’re right – if you need an analyst to work 16 hour days regularly you have a headcount problem, not a workflow problem, and should hire two analysts. This is quite literally two full working days for most people.

I wonder if the trade off is worth it. — CityCondor

I have some news for you: Big Tech is becoming like banking. All-nighters, fueled by pizza and Sprite, to meet an artificial deadline to push the major revision patch to the production server are not uncommon. As is building a fake sense of camaraderie with juniors hoping to nurture an illusion of being a dynamic go-getter that plays hard and works harder.

Elite overachiever types that use their working hours as some sort of flex are drawn to where the money is. — Shawn Corey Carter

I have just returned from my second full day in the office in a year. I live in Melbourne, where we are currently Covid-free and people seem to be trickling back in.

My experience of working in the office while most colleagues are still working at home is hardening my view that these “let’s just split the difference” type approaches are going to be quite difficult to pull off in practice.

When you are spending much of your day on video calls sitting at a downtown desk, you cannot help but ponder what the central office is actually for. Indeed, if everyone is splitting their time on average 50/50 remote and on-site, we could end up with the worst of both worlds. The office is about in-person interaction, not Zooming at your desk, missing the comforts of home. — AdamC

I suspect over time an equilibrium will be reached where people naturally drift into the office between Monday and Thursday for 1-4 days regardless of company rules. There will also be some company tyrants desperate to return to the old ways of working putting pressure on staff. What these new hybrid policies need to be complemented by is policies around behaviours and managers need to be supported in how to manage people working across multiple sites. In the old world, companies gushing about flexible working culture only to be let down by the first manager who doesn’t “trust” home working were talking rubbish.

Personally, I am looking forward to going into the office if only for the nicer surroundings. I will enjoy not constantly being surrounded by kids toys. — Spoke

I work as hard as the next guy, but to say the work pattern described is in any way positive is crazy. Of course it is impossible to damage outside work relationships… you can’t damage them if you have no time to develop them!

The oil industry has people working seven day weeks 12 hour shifts for weeks at a time without breaks.

Hospital doctors in training and as consultants also work ludicrous hours.

It is as if people believe that they have to be exhausted to make good decisions. In fact, bad decisions are a consequence of exhaustion. — A Q Kopp

Having worked at magic circle firms in the US, private practice is based on burning out everyone below partner/counsel level. These were real issues before the pandemic. Nothing new in these stories of overwork, but maybe the lockdown factor is the final straw. — Northernline

The point everyone is making is that these kids knew (or ought to have done their DD [due diligence] and therefore ought to have known) that these jobs are highly paid, in exchange for working every waking moment. That’s the job. Don’t like it? Go somewhere else.

Would they have accepted the job if the salary was halved and the hours also? Didn’t think so. — A diligent observer

I joined PwC virtually last September — every day I think about quitting and moving to the Middle East to learn Arabic and work in a think-tank. That’s the plan for next year once the pandemic is over.— Coco571

As a junior employee grinding away in a small rented flat I’ve realised how far away the prospect of owning my own property is — distracted normally by the fact I am never in it.— Damn It Feels Good to be a Banker

If the banks want to retain women into their 30s, they must adapt their hours. You can’t work a 100 hour week and have a family life.— JustPerson

If people are working 80 hour work weeks to get a job done in time then it’s not where they work that’s the problem, it is the timeframe. Citi needs to adjust how fast they expect to close deals. They would still make money, just not burn through its people in a few years. And I’m sorry but nowadays work-life balance means I have to answer emails at 2.00am.

That’s not balance. If you want balance, give all employees Saturday and Sunday off. The work will reset itself. Whatever happened to banker’s hours? They used to be a perk; now they are a punishment.— Michaelbarrett

I’m not a millennial, but I say good on them for speaking up. I came of age before things went sour in 2008 and I can absolutely see they have it worse. Banking has required every generation to hustle but the difference is that older generations (boomers, Gen X) were able to progress in their careers, enjoyed the perks of bonuses and good pay when times were good, plus had access to free tertiary education and cheaper housing.

The world has been lurching from one disaster to the next since millennials have come of age — good on them for standing up for themselves. Clearly no one else is going to.— Buzz Lightly

I am one of the ‘concerned parents’ referred to in the article. The pressure that I have seen my son under over the past 12 months in particular, since last March, is totally intolerable. I remember working in the City in the 80s and 90s and we thought we were under pressure and working long hours, but this is a totally different game. I have seen him go from a confident happy young man (so pleased with his success in getting such a sought after job) to a very unhappy, exhausted and disappointed young man a year later. 

Working from around 9am to 2/3am the following morning on a regular basis (and almost always until after 11pm) scrambling for time to eat, he is simply told that lockdown is not affecting other trainees and the firm hasn’t seen any dip in performance (which I personally think is a lie but that’s what they are saying).— Anguille

A refreshing take on the actual experiences of young people with working from home (WFH) during this pandemic. Very different from the countless articles by Gen-X and Boomer pundits months ago, breathlessly extolling the wonderful virtues of WFH from their expansive kitchens and country homes. WFH for extended periods for a young professional sucks. I suspect even less-wealthy middle-age professionals feel the same way.— Truth Hurts

It’s actually worse for middle-aged middle management people. Even with reasonable size houses, most of them are stuck juggling work and kids for a prolonged period and the ever increasing deadlines and minimal pay rises are certainly not helping. — East End Oxonian

I have a very unattractive Zoom video call resting face. Sooner we go back the better. I miss my private members’ club and the false sense of importance. — RajBad

I’m five years into my career and absolutely love working from home. No more commute, a more comfortable working environment (which I appreciate I am lucky to have by forking out for a two bed so I can have a dedicated workplace), the ability to work in comfortable clothes rather than awful office wear, the ability to see my partner a lot more than I otherwise would and not having to deal with the inane interruptions you get in the office that aren’t related to your work.

I know everyone is different in what they experience, but there’s no way in hell I’m going back to the office for more than 2 days a week. — Seb

I’ve spent the last year supporting over 5,000 ICU [intensive care unit] staff across London. Every single one has worked their socks off, gone way beyond what would be expected of them and accumulated mental health issues that will play out over the next few years. — 9×12

I always wondered how people in the health system were able to carry on and not get depressed by their jobs.

The very mention and description of someone’s suffering always made me experience acute physical pain. I felt both ashamed of myself and grateful that those in the medical profession were able to function under such circumstances.

This article is a clear warning that there are limits to even the most hardened among them. — Ouch

“It’s increasingly obvious to some of us that we have made questionable life choices.” A good crisis (be it Covid or mid-life) often brings up that question. It is a unique opportunity to re-evaluate the values we have been fed. — Sewa