A revolt by junior Goldman Sachs Group Inc bankers over work weeks that can stretch to as long as 105 hours has inspired schadenfreude over discontent at the storied investment bank and wider debate about the future of work after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The erosion between office and home boundaries during the pandemic means many white-collar workers can relate on some level to the complaints, even if the plight of elite young bankers seeking riches does not inspire sympathy.
The issues underlying the Goldman Sachs controversy are “reflective of a broader problem,” said Temple University sociologist Kevin Delaney, author of Money at Work: On the Job with Priests, Poker Players and Hedge Fund Traders.
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“People feel the boundaries have disappeared between work and leisure and work and life. A lot of people are struggling with it because they are not sure when they are allowed to take time off,” he said.
In the wake of the dustup, Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon has urged staff to respect a firm-wide policy of not working on Saturdays, and praised the young staffers for speaking up.
The gripes were felt beyond Goldman’s corner of Lower Manhattan. Citigroup Inc chief executive Jane Fraser last week announced “Zoom-Free Fridays” and urged workers to take their vacation time, adding that she planned a few days off “knowing I will come back with a fresher brain.”
Compared with other options, being overworked could be viewed as a preferable plight during the pandemic. Government data show millions of people in the US remain out of work.
COVID-19 itself has also infected or killed many “essential” workers such as supermarket staff, transit workers, nurses and others who cannot telecommute.
Among those still with jobs, mental burnout is on the rise.
In a Harvard Business Review article published last month, Jennifer Moss, a syndicated columnist who specializes in workplace issues, said the disruption has been especially pronounced for younger staff.
One worker quoted in the story said they encountered professional roadblocks as well as negative health effects from diminished opportunities to exercise.
A survey of 1,500 workers showed 85 percent reported that their well-being had declined, and 55 percent said they felt like they had not been able to balance their home and work life, Moss wrote.
Possible steps to remedy the situation include establishing a manageable workload and a mental health resource page for staff as part of a strategy to destigmatize the issue.
Solutions must go beyond self-care steps such as yoga and meditation apps, Moss said.
“We desperately need upstream interventions, not downstream tactics,” she said.
All of the young Goldman bankers felt their work hours had negatively affected relationships with friends and family and also created unrealistic deadlines.
Most also reported feeling as though they experienced workplace abuse and were shunned in meetings, according to an 11-page presentation complete with statistics and graphs, not unlike what the bank would prepare for a client.
“There was a point where I was not eating, showering or doing anything else other than working from morning until after midnight,” said one of the staff members surveyed.
A Goldman Sachs employee who has been with the firm for about three years said that the pandemic indeed made work more grueling, and that first-year employees can suffer especially from the lack of opportunities to interact with senior employees.
Work weeks of 95 hours or more were not a surprise, said the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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