Any other juniors EXHAUSTED due to COVID work-from-home?

LOL I can relate to all this.

I'm with you 110%. My group is normally pretty good in terms of hours, generally in the low 70s on average, but I haven't had a sub 80 hour week since March and haven't had a sub 95 hours week in the past month.

How much the August bonus is haircut will really, really make a difference in what I'm planning for next year

All of the analysts I'm working with are getting staffed up the ass- they call it live at work as opposed to work from home lul

lol i feel this. i have developed a genuine aversion to the sounds that are made by my work computer whenever i’m pinged

Feel this big time. Same thought has gone through my head weekly especially since CMs came back. Hours are worse than being in the office and all the pointless/unnecessary work has gone through the roof. Feels like people just trying to act busy to position themselves internally. Overkill. People never unplug anymore. I tried to unplug Saturday afternoon after working every weekend the past few weeks and had people texting/calling me about if I was going to turn the deck. Chill out people not like the call is on a Sunday. Feels like the expectations have gotten worse because the thought process is "hey you're at home anyways might as well work". Cue all the hardos who are going to say that's the job I signed up for blah blah blah

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I'm at one of the EBs known to have bad hours (Moelis/PJT/Lazard) and things have gotten out of control in recent months. Most of my analysts work until 4am almost on a daily basis and I work past 1am most of the time. Can pretty much forget about weekends as we are always working on another useless pitch that is going to end up nowhere in this environment

All of our partners/MDs are scared shitless about not meeting revenue targets so treat every pitch like it's the next $10bn sellside that's going to make them golden for the year. It would probably be like this during any bad year deal flow wise but all of this WFH stuff just exacerbates the situation for all the junior folks

This is the kind of thing that incenses me. Because that is abuse. It's abusive. Yes. Abuse. Y'all read it the word. Abuse

You're absolutely right to be angry. It is so beyond ridiculous. It's completely unnecessary. Sorry to hear.

I have fallen asleep at my desk several times and have woken up to 5 missed phone calls multiple times. What worries me is I do not think this will end, this is the new normal.

We’re definitely buried, though it is at least all for live processes that we’re chasing. I’m constantly torn between feeling depressed and endlessly grateful to have a job (I just read a post from the guy who had to give his dog away because he can’t afford the medicine.. after spending 2 years in IB). Past two weeks I’ve been taking a nap from like 10:30pm to midnight, working until 5:30 and then a second nap from 5:30-7:00am. I need those little pauses, which are great, but I do question the sustainability.

This is more a reflection of the poor deal environment than anything else: everyone is trying to justify why they shouldn’t be laid off. As much as it sucks donkey dick, imagine if you had to commute on top of the hours you were putting in. I’m not in IB but we have been similarly crushed since March and I recently let my boss know that it’s a good thing we were working remotely because the commute on top of all the extra work might have broken me. You just get to a point where you’re too tired to even function. Even now there are days where I almost wish I’d get laid off. Almost.

Still, I’d rather this than be worrying about a paycheck, there’s a lot of folks getting pretty desperate.

This can’t last forever, at some point there will be a shakeout.

THERE ALWAYS IS

Completely understandable - combination of what you described + being reachable 24/7. MDs know you have nothing else going on, so why not leverage that?

IMO, you need to start pushing back more, otherwise things will not get better. Respond to his email at 8:00am saying you just woke up and can turn as much as possible in the next hour but won't be 100% complete. Call him out on his BS. He'll probably respond saying: "OK, by noon is fine" or some shit.

Bonuses will be shit anyway, so what have you got to lose? You're senior enough and hopefully have built up enough goodwill where people will respect your push back and it won't have any longer-term effects on your experience/bonuses (if anything, could have a positive impact). Hopefully your MDs aren't COMPLETE assholes and will understand. If they don't, just pull the trigger on your 2-week notice email and go join a different bank. You have more leverage than you think.

(FYI, this is coming from experience. Life has gotten materially better after adopting an IDGAF mentality)

I was just talking with a friend about how bad it's been lately. It's kind of comforting to hear I'm not the only one going through this, but I'm exhausted. The pandemic really made me step back and think about a lot of things, and for me life is too short to put up with this environment for much longer. I know people with less demanding jobs that were able to use the slow down to spend more time with family, and I would feel awful if something happened to a loved one while I was working 24/7. On top of that, my mental health has been nuked (and physical too since I can never leave my apartment).

If this goes on long-term, bonuses next year will probably be awful, so we'll sacrifice our health and time spent with people close to us for what?

Totally agree with every sentiment on this thread. Realistically this will further drive people away from IB into tech/consulting (more so tech but still). VP's working me continuously every Saturday and expect you to be at your desk every second.

Frankly sometimes I just think about quitting and living on savings while this blows over.

The busiest 5-6 months I’ve had by far and pace doesn’t seem to be letting up for the rest of the year. Not being able to blow off steam on weekends or step away for 20-30mins makes it all the more difficult.

On one hand I feel very fortunate to be employed and making good money, on the other I feel like a fucking idiot for still putting up with this everyday.

Just here to say that the grass isn’t greener, especially during a global pandemic and recession. I have a few peers being absolutely crushed at FAANG.