B is for Banking...

Ever since the economic crisis began in 2008 discussions of bankers and their often enormous bonuses has been a scorching topic of conversation across the UK. I've heard the opinions of many people calling into radio stations and writing online and in newspapers and the vast majority of them are enraged by the huge remuneration packages that top bankers are paid because the bankers were blamed for sparking the crisis. 

Over the past seven years I have had a rarified glimpse into the fairly insular world of banking because of dating and subsequently becoming married to an investment banker. I also have a close family member and two close friends who have managed to rise fairly high up in the banking stratosphere. Through this I have learnt some fascinating things about the world of bankers.

In my opinion, the most striking two things about the profession is firstly the amount of money the people at the top of the pile work and, secondly, the insane work hours and huge amounts of pressure placed on these people. I believe that these two factors are intimately and causally related because if it wasn't for the hope of one day potentially having your name on the top of a seven figure bank statement then no one would work the often appalling hours. Of course there are other professions who work really long hours (I have a cousin who is an intern in a government hospital in South Africa and have heard of 48 hour shifts going down. I also have a few friends who work in advertising which is also an industry renowned for its unforgiving hours) but I have never come across anything as bad as the banking profession. I have a friend who while working as an investment banking analyst in London only had one Saturday off in a 6 month period. The rest of the time she worked 14 - 20 hour days without any break. I have heard bankers say that six hours of sleep is too much because it takes you out of the swing of being able to function on four hours only. 

Whilst working on a deal with a particularly important client who was in a totally different time zone my husband set his Blackberry to alarm whenever the client emailed him - even if it was at four in the morning London time. I sometimes wonder if the client ever thought that my husband was a type of android who doesn't ever need to sleep, shower or eat. I have often bankers if there isn't a better way to divide tasks so that more people work on a deal and everyone gets to sleep more even if it meant a bit of a pay cut but they have all told me that it would be virtually impossible to do this efficiently.

The result of all this hard work and no play is often broken relationships, nervous breakdowns and other insane anecdotes - some of which have been told to me by the black cab drivers who regularly drive bankers home in the early hours of the morning. The other day one of these cabbies told me husband that he had a 20-somehting banker who hadn't left the office for 48 hours. While in the cab on the way home he got a phonecall from his boss telling him to return to the office and he subsequently burst into  tears.

You could respond to this by saying that it is their choice to work as bankers and that they are greedily after the hope of one day getting a huge bonus. On the other hand, reasonably paid jobs that are fast-paced and interesting are not that easy to find and changing careers is not an easy option either. Its also so competitive to actually get into this field that many young people feel they better not waste the opportunity. So although they might seem to earn a disproportionate amount of money, the road to a successful career in banking is not planted with platinum-plated roses.