Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace • Hacker News Board

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#31

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:09 AM UTC

steve19 wrote: post #22

brainflake wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you can't even 'muster empathy' for people like this? I can understand how you wouldn't want to work these hours, but when the article is detailing someone who dies and your first comment is 'Meh.', that's absolutely abhorrent to me.

Not the OP but I struggle to sympathize with someone who takes that kind of job. I can't think up any other motivation other than greed or addiction to money/power. A friend of mine just turned down an insanely high paying Wall Street job. She told me that there was no way they could pay her that kind of salary without taking every second of her existence and every joule of her energy. A couple of week ago she went t…

[deleted]

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#32

Post by vuldin » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:12 AM UTC

eachro wrote: post #26

steve19 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the OP but I struggle to sympathize with someone who takes that kind of job. I can't think up any other motivation other than greed or addiction to money/power. A friend of mine just turned down an insanely high paying Wall Street job. She told me that there was no way they could pay her that kind of salary without taking every second of her existence and every joule of her energy. A couple of week ago she went t…

You can't think of any other motivation besides greed or addiction to power? Consider 1st generation college graduates from immigrant families who have the chance to singlehandedly lift their families out of poverty by accepting these jobs. That's not greed.

This in all likelihood describes 1%of the 1%. Just adding in a little perspective.

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#33

Post by hugh4 » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:19 AM UTC

cryoshon wrote: post #3

Meh. I can't imagine the mindset that would lead someone to sacrifice their entire existence on the pyre of working; what's the point of making big cash if you've got no time or people to enjoy it with? I think that these kind of aberrant/nauseating/maladapted pathological behaviors (working insane hours, money addiction) show a bewildering lack of wisdom that is intentionally selected for among the "most competitive…

I can't escape the odour of sour grapes in discussions like these, where people who could have gone into finance reassure themselves and each other that they made the right decision to take a less lucrative path through life.

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#34

Post by ken47 » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:22 AM UTC

steve19 wrote: post #22

brainflake wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you can't even 'muster empathy' for people like this? I can understand how you wouldn't want to work these hours, but when the article is detailing someone who dies and your first comment is 'Meh.', that's absolutely abhorrent to me.

Not the OP but I struggle to sympathize with someone who takes that kind of job. I can't think up any other motivation other than greed or addiction to money/power. A friend of mine just turned down an insanely high paying Wall Street job. She told me that there was no way they could pay her that kind of salary without taking every second of her existence and every joule of her energy. A couple of week ago she went t…

Whether you sympathize or not, saying "meh" to someone's death is a slippery slope with psychopathy at the bottom.

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#35

Post by hiddencost » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:23 AM UTC

Reality warps in some really weird ways, the more you do this. You stop being able to interact with your friends that aren't doing it; you stop taking care of yourself in ways that don't feed maintenance your ability to keep grinding; you're always "on" so you never really relax enough to reflect or see things in other contexts or perspectives; in the back of your head you might know there's something wrong but you maybe can't put the pieces together, and since you've always been told you were so smart, that scares you, and you become defensive; at some point the idea that you've been on such a wrong track for so long becomes intolerable and rather than cut your losses you decide that "saner" approaches are really weakness.

That's at least part of what I experienced, in a similar life style. At some point I realized if I kept doing it, I'd end up dead or crazy in ways I didn't want, and found alternatives that let me live and explore. But quitting was one of the scariest things I've done in my life.

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#36

Post by rayiner » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:25 AM UTC

cryoshon wrote: post #3

Meh. I can't imagine the mindset that would lead someone to sacrifice their entire existence on the pyre of working; what's the point of making big cash if you've got no time or people to enjoy it with? I think that these kind of aberrant/nauseating/maladapted pathological behaviors (working insane hours, money addiction) show a bewildering lack of wisdom that is intentionally selected for among the "most competitive…

> I can't imagine the mindset that would lead someone to sacrifice their entire existence on the pyre of working; what's the point of making big cash if you've got no time or people to enjoy it with?

For most people who do it, it's a few-year long stint that will leave them with a chunk of money in the bank, a top business school admission, and a resume line-item that will parlay into a nice corporate finance or management gig. And if you're good at the job, working at a top bank or consulting firm is still the most direct route into the C-suite at an established company.

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#37

Post by knight17 » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:26 AM UTC

This is not a new development and certainly not exclusive to Wallstreet or the City or Amazon or magic circle. It is part of the aura of these places—belief that the endurance necessary for this kind of over work isn't present outside and that they are/will be better for overcoming this ordeal— that this makes them different from others this is part of the exclusiveness of these places along with the pay.

But there are many people working equally harder and sometimes even [harder].

Here is another story from less prestigious cousins of WallSt. and magic circle law firms: Big 4 auditors! A PwC associate overworked to [18 hours a day, 120 a week].

[harder] : http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/05/woman-n...

[18 hours a day, 120 a week] :

1. http://offbeatchina.com/25-year-old-auditor-at-pwc-shanghai-...

2. http://goingconcern.com/2011/4/did-a-pwc-auditor-work-hersel...

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#38

Post by Zigurd » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:31 AM UTC

The tragedy is that this is unnecessary. If Wall Street compensation can support paying enormous compensation, it can support hiring enough people to do the work. As with medical residents' brutal schedules, it's tradition over rationality.

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#39

Post by graeme » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:33 AM UTC

mattzito wrote: post #18

cryoshon wrote: post #3

Meh. I can't imagine the mindset that would lead someone to sacrifice their entire existence on the pyre of working; what's the point of making big cash if you've got no time or people to enjoy it with? I think that these kind of aberrant/nauseating/maladapted pathological behaviors (working insane hours, money addiction) show a bewildering lack of wisdom that is intentionally selected for among the "most competitive…

You can think this through a few ways. One is that they see finance jobs as desirable jobs, focus their whole lives up to that point on getting the job, get it - and find it's horrible. What do you do then? Do you go back to all the people who were really proud at your achievements and tell them you're a failure? Another is that they really do think it gets better. If they can just make it through the first four or f…

>One is that they see finance jobs as desirable jobs, focus their whole lives up to that point on getting the job, get it - and find it's horrible. What do you do then? Do you go back to all the people who were really proud at your achievements and tell them you're a failure?

Is it a surprise to those on that career path? I work with people applying to law school, and it's widely known that major firm jobs demand an incredible amount of your time.

I think people might, mistakenly, expect "I can handle it, I like a challenge", but the gist of what a job at biglaw requires is pretty well known.

I'd be surprised if finance is different.

I agree spineless isn't the word, though. Motivations for entering that type of job are simply very different from what motivates people who wouldn't even consider it. I can't say exactly what it is, because I'm very far from that type. But the people I know on that path (in law) certainly are quite able to stand up for themselves. They're very confident, capable people.

Re: Deaths Draw Attention to Wall Street’s Grueling Pace

#40

Post by saintfiends » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 3:35 AM UTC

Hard work is important and it is the only effective and reliable way to be successful. This does not mean all nighters or alcohol-cocaine binges should be the norm, it must be the rare exception.

End of the day it's-just-not-worth-it over everything else.

If you think it is the norm or encourage such behavior, you're selfish, you're what is wrong with the society.