Serious question: why don't more people join the financial services industry?

There has been a lot of talk about inequality and overcompensation in corporations and finance. If they are making so much more than everyone else why doesn't everyone try to work at hedge funds. It seems many complain about inequality but don't even try to enter these high powered fields but instead chose a career in journalism etc.

Either people aren't into money as much as they say, high barriers to entry exist, the labor market is "rigged", or people are misinformed.

 
Best Response

Those people who are bitching never wanted those jobs in the first place. They wanted to smoke weed and drink in high school and "live life" while they are young. Then, when things didn't turn out their way, they complain about the system being rigged against them.

People make an attempt to explain this cycle by citing social and cultural factors. In reality, this behavior is basic human nature. We as species are fucking lazy. We also have a strong urge to be pitied and/or be victims. Finally, we never want to see ourselves as being wrong. This is why those people who didn't succeed because they refused to even try hard like to blame the system because not only does that paint them as victims, but it also lays the blame on some invisible force (which, in reality, has no bearing on how hard they try in life) rather than on themselves.

 

Lots of people don't have the work ethic. Finance jobs have those barriers to entry which drives up wages and a lot of people just don't want to put in the work. Personally I think it's a saturated field.

To your question about hedge funds, those jobs just aren't as abundant as people think.

It's the same with sports. If everyone could be a quarterback or hit 95mph fastballs it wouldn't pay so well. Likewise if everyone could get a job at a hedge fund and do well it wouldn't pay so well.

 

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