Are the hours really that bad? Or just bias from who's positing here?
I'm a completely clueless first-year analyst hitting the desk very shortly. This is probably silly, but are there many groups out there that actually have a decent 50-60hr week WLB but just don't get posted on here? In other words, is it because the forum is maybe very focused on EBs and very top groups that the hours posted are so horrendous? Or is it generally universal for all analysts everywhere no matter the bank or city?
Any certain regions or banks that are particularly better WLB? Likely wishful thinking on my part but interested to hear what you all think.
I would look to the IB WSO survey for avg. hours worked by bank. I think it gives a good summary.
WSO 2021 Investment Banking Work-Conditions Survey (Part 2/2) | Wall Street Oasis
WSO Investment Banking Working Conditions Survey .pdf (wallstreetoasis.com)
That survey was good but it was at the height of deal activity when the country started opening up. Has it gotten any better by now?
Just interned at a GS TMT / MS M&A caliber group.
Analysts working here said that seniors told them this is the worst it’s ever been (90-100hr weeks consistently). They then told me that when they were interning that it was the exact same, and that seniors were telling analysts at that time that it was the worst it’s ever been (90-100hr weeks). It never gets better. Banking will never be a truly enjoyable job if you don’t love working on transactions for 70-100+ hours a week.
Anecdotally have friends across the industry at BBs and EBs. Would say there’s only select industry groups at certain banks that have consistent 60 hour weeks. That friend has only announced 1 deal in 2 years though so there’s a trade off.
yes 100% they are that bad.
I worked consistent 90 to 100 hrs weeks for 3 months at UBS this winter.
outside those 3 months, its been consistently 80 hrs plus a week with a 100 hr week probably every 3 weeks
and this is a "chill" group supposedly.
Its horrific this past year, many people are burnt out and quitting, and theres a reason why banks are floating huge pay increases and all my coworkers are getting lateral offers at centerview, evercore, moelis when a year ago those firms wouldnt even touch them.
80 hours a week is only like 11 hours a day : 9am - 8pm. If those were the hours I had, I would probably love this job.
The "9am to 4am everyday" talked about here is a 140 hour work week, so that's definitely exaggerated, but 70-90 hours is the typical range with a few slow weeks (50ish) and some horrific 100+++ weeks.
I don't think any group anywhere will consistently have 50-60 hours. Maybe a sub 10 person boutique in a regional market.
Know a group where sleeping between 4-5:30 am Sun-Thurs was a norm. Friday wasn’t super later and Saturday was probably like 12 hours. Ended up with avg. hours of ~105 hours a week.
Know a group where sleeping between 4-5:30 am Sun-Thurs was a norm. Friday wasn’t super later and Saturday was probably like 12 hours. Ended up with avg. hours of ~105 hours a week.
I think you're right to ask the right question from the selection bias of who posts, but banks are not raising stale salaries and hiring a ton of laterals with mainstream media catching on unless there's truth to what's circulating.
What is more anecdotal is that in my team I've noticed mid-level bankers (Associates, VPs) start to get lazier as they are in serious relationships or in the early stages of marriage and signing off early / traveling every week leaving the juniors to dry out on deals. So in effect, hours are still horrible - but that's a reason specific to my team. I'm sure different teams have different reasons for overall it averages out that indeed, things are not good.
55 hrs/week @ 50wks/yr @ $140K (all-in) is $51 an hour. That's an absurd expectation for an analyst doing admin-type work out of undergrad.
It really is. WFH makes everything worse
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