A news story that has consumed this week has been about junior investment bankers disclosing the gruelling realities of work/life balance at Goldman Sachs. I read how first-year bankers were expected to average 95-hour working weeks, less than 5 hours of sleep and opening up about the mental health challenges they face in their corporate occupation. They decided to take action and present a case to senior management and campaign for a limit to having one weekend day where they did not need to be on their laptops plugging numbers.
I’ve seen divided opinions on LinkedIn with former M&A Bankers stating ‘this is essentially what you sign up to if you want a career in Finance or Banking’ and other opinions saying that ‘this is the #metoo moment of professional services. My opinion sits on the latter as I too have overworked, burnout, struggled with having a proper work/life balance and the pressure from Senior Managers and Partners to deliver audit work papers on weekends and at 11 pm consistently.
Did this disclosure to the public about banking surprise me? The short answer is no. The long answer, however, tells a different story. When I first started working in Audit at the Big 4, I was promised that I would be financially rewarded if I became fully qualified as a Chartered Accountant, that I would be ‘sorted’ for life if I put in the hours and sacrifices to my health and personal life. Additionally, I was told that the ‘busy’ period of Audit would only be from January – March each year. I can confirm these are all broken promises to ambitious graduates who want to have a fulfilling career.
Some of my favourite films glamourise banking and finance and ‘overworking’ – The Wolf of Wall Street and American Psycho do this very well. Both are dark comedies about capitalism and the ‘corporate’ model and I too get sucked into the representation. The idea of being able to make enough money to be able to afford Ferragamos and Gucci loafers, rent my own place, financial security, a sense that you are part of the beating heart of the economy.
What are the working hours actually like at the Big 4 in the UK?
The expectation for normal working hours is 40 hours per week. Every client audit varies, every team is different. I have worked on jobs which value teamwork/life balance and flexibility and these jobs tend to be 40 hours, in a busy period potentially 60 hours but with the opportunity to voice any prior commitments you have or flexibility around 1 working day a week or the option to not work weekends.
This is very much dependent on the grade you are at. As someone, who is a Senior Associate I am still fairly junior despite having a couple of years more experience than an entry-level graduate who has joined. My best answer I can give is – expect to work between 40 – 80 hours depending on the client, the team dynamic, the Audit Partner on the job and the time of the year.
The dreaded ‘Busy Season’ is very much real and I remember being warned about this prior to joining Audit and it is standard to work more than 50 hours per week and to also work some weekends. It occurs from January – March ( typically most clients have a 31st December year-end or a March year-end for tax purposes), however, if you are working on a client which has a different year-end or signing deadline (say June ) you are most likely going to be working long hours in May and beginning June. At the time, it was very hard to believe that it was normal to work sometimes from 9 am – 9.30 pm or until 11.30 pm but unfortunately, it does occur.
I’ve actually found with working from home that everyone is working harder, more virtual meetings in a day with clients and the team but also it is easier to stay online after the working day ends as it is quite common to have meetings in evenings and to receive emails at all hours of the day.
Whilst I’ve had challenges with the work/life balance and it is something that I continue to struggle with, there are some ways you can practise self-care when being overworked.
Here are my top tips for trying to practise self-care when you are being overworked:
1. If you’re working late, have your significant other prepare dinner or utilise M&S
As mentioned in my previous career tips posts, having a partner who understands your job, industry and the duties of your role can help when you are expected to work long hours. I have a very demanding job which requires a 12-15 hour work day for multiple weeks and travelling. Ryan was really good at understanding this and went above and beyond to always cook dinner or order takeaway if I was coming home late, visit me once a week if I was working away from home and bring cooked food.
With working from home, whilst there is no commuting and travelling ,there is still the expectation to be online all the time and having someone help out with household chores, cooking lunch and dinner and being understanding is a massive god-send.
If you are single and working long hours, hiring a cleaner and utilising easy ready to cook meals from Waitrose or M&S can really help if you do not have time to do any cooking. Try to research quick recipes that you can do during your lunch break or pre-batch cook meals at weekends. I believe that M&S is literally for people like myself who don’t always have time to cook and can be ordered online via Ocado.
2. Watch Netflix or read a book 30 minutes before you go to bed
Time may not be on your side when your career is your main focus and attention for a while, however self-care doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be neglected because of this. When I was working until 11.30pm, I found even having just 30 minutes of watching a series on Netflix or reading a chapter or two from a book in bed would allow me to sleep better and have some time in the evening to unwind from work.
If you are working after midnight, I’d highly recommend going straight to bed and trying to relax and unwind on a day when you are not working.
3. Get out of the house or client site at least once a day. Take very quick breaks outside and away from the screen (set reminders to do this)
Something I’ve been terrible at doing during the pandemic and lockdown is getting out of the house. Pre-lockdown, I’d be working at a client site and taking frequent 10-minute breaks away from the screen by grabbing a coffee or walking around the office.
If you’re struggling to make time for breaks away from your laptop, set reminders on your phone and try to go when you are beginning to struggle with productivity and focusing.
4. Speak up to your Manager and Team about your boundaries and speak to your Coach/ Mentor within the business about the work
You’ve likely heard this from many people time and time again, but no one should suffer alone and actually, I think it is necessary when you reach the point that your physical and mental health is suffering from your workload.
I’ve done this and been vocal about what my capabilities are to different levels of the organisation, there have been times when I’ve cried and felt the pressure but ultimately if you talk to someone, they can do something about it.
My Coach has stepped in to help me speak up to the audit team when I’ve had unrealistic deadlines on projects or been working very excessive hours that have made me ill.
5. On days when you are not working take it easy – catch-up on sleep, do one activity you enjoy doing outside of work
Don’t feel like you have to do errands or have a busy weekend if you’re asked to work on the weekend. My advice would be to take things easy and aim to have a lie-in and one activity you enjoy doing outside of work – this could be a workout, cooking/baking, catching up with a friend or watching a movie.
When I’ve been working hard all week, I find a workout and cooking to be my favourite self-care activities to relax.
6. Communicate to friends and family about your busy periods at work and if you need help or support, specify how they can support your during this time.
Something I’ve had to constantly do during my career has been reminding my family and friends when I am having busy periods at work and overworking or going to be away from home f.or long periods of time.
The truth is that the majority of people who work in Finance or Investment Banking know first-hand the long hours, however, it comes as a shock to people that are close to you.
I remember my parents would always be negative and unhelpful about the hours I had to work or always text and ask me to visit when I was working in Coventry or Oxford. I started getting into a habit of being clear about my work schedule with my friends and family and this helped massively.
7. Have a self-care buddy
Not just restricted to when you are being overworked, I find having a self-care buddy not just helpful but essential to your career.
I’m fortunate to have two amazing friends outside of work and friends within my company who I can check-in with and vent about my work to. Being able to vent out about overworking and also having a friend who can suggest self-care ideas when you are not working long hours gives something to look forward to as a reward for the hard work.
I’ve hosted games nights, baked blondies and cookies for my friends and just been a phone call away to support my friends who are overworking.
8. Exercise when you are not working
Similar to the above tips I’ve given, I really enjoyed being able to exercise in a fitness class at weekends. I used ClassPass and tried an interesting workout called EMS which is essentially having a lot of little electric shocks whilst you do HIIT or bodyweight exercises.
Making time for a workout once a week when you’re not working will boost motivation levels and increase productivity during the week.
It could be a 30 minute park-run or a home workout or going to the gym when they reopen on April 12th.
9. Do not look at your emails when you are not working
Self-care is all about balance and a small step you can take to practising self-care and gaining back control when work dominates is by actively not looking at your emails outside of work.
It took me a while to get over this sneaky bad habit but I found that not looking at my emails on weekends has dramatically helped in being more relaxed.
I understand that it’s good to be aware of emails when they come but don’t feel as if you have to take action on an email which has been sent outside of normal working hours.
10. Continue to speak up about work/life balance and champion mental health in your company
Whilst a lot of companies will say they prioritise work/life balance and mental health, sometimes actions do not match words. The only way to create change is to be vocal and champion these causes within the organisation. Being vocal doesn’t equal going to the Financial Times and having an Oprah-style interview, it could be just having active conversations with members of your team, your appraiser, senior members in your department and connecting with Associates.
The Goldman Sachs story was powerful because it was junior-level workers taking action for their poor working conditions and standing up for what they believe in.
11.Make a career move if you hate your job and sacrificing your mental health to the point where you have used up most of your sick days
If the above doesn’t help improve your mental health or your working conditions and you find yourself feeling depressed or suddenly hating your job, making a career move and knowing your self-worth to make an impact elsewhere is the best thing you can do for your career when you’ve had enough of overworking.
I hope you found these tips helpful! If you’re struggling with working long hours or just started a new job and find the workload to be too much, I’m always here for a chat on Instagram!
What is your favourite self-care activity to unwind from work?
