why the flying fuck are any of us showing up to the office

can somebody explain to me why the fuck i’m in the office right now when the group heads md vp associate are all OOO. They said RTO was better for all of us but here we are following up with all our MDs for final sign off while our MDs are realizing they got too fat for their Nantucket Reds and need to start getting orthopedic inserts in their Sperrys. We can’t even expense wfh meals anymore you are literally costing the firm money by having us come in for absolutely no goddamn reason. The first years haven’t hit the desk the interns are back at school…why am i here although if I asked myself that question three years ago when I was recruiting I could have been doing ayahuasca in the Bay after my four hour workday…

63 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Because boomers and gen X hate nothing more than to see young, successful people having it better than they did. Plus, they simply can’t comprehend that the younger generations don’t build their livelihoods and identities around being an employee and living to work like they do.

Cant wait until these people finally retire and F off from the workplace forever. 

 

I find it kind of crazy that there are many associates and above that prefer to be at the office for the sake of “efficiency”. Makes me wonder if they really just hate their partner or family.

 
Controversial

I just don’t bother teaching my new analysts / associates more novel analyses or industry concepts if they aren’t in person. After a couple years find it frustrating / less efficient over the phone or whatever, so will just do direct or send markup that an 8th grader could process. Maybe that’s a chiller / better lifestyle for them but can’t imagine as good for development LT as sitting next to more experienced folks and learning

 

That sounds like a you problem. I’d go as far as saying it’s a sign of bad management if you’re not able to adapt your style to the situation and environment in order to get the best out of your team.

Put another way, a good manager is able to evolve and utilise new tools, technologies and ways of working to improve both output and input (in the case, input being the things you teach your team). If you can’t get your team learning properly remotely, that’s on you, and you need to adapt. I have taught plenty of analysts and associates the methodologies and thinking behind detailed industry analyses completely from behind a screen. It can be done, and there are certainly benefits to doing it that way.

 

Tbh I’m surprised at some of these responses. I mean to each their own, but if you don’t like being in the office like 3.5 days a weeks, I read that as your firm having a terrible junior/bullpen culture and that you just don’t wanna see these people at all. And that’s totally valid, just a different argument really.

To be fair, my firm has decent (by banking standards) wfh on holiday policies and PTO is mostly respected in my group. People also mostly transition home in the 6-8 window unless they’re grinding. I guess I would say it’s just not toxic, at least on the surface, like obviously politics is a thing.

But if the genesis of these arguments is just pure not wanting to be in the office, I just think like damn y’all don’t wanna get out of your apartment at all? Also, the improved productivity from home study thing was totally debunked. Maybe you feel opposite, but I do feel more productive being in the office generally speaking. It can get a little exhausting by the fifth day, but that’s why wfh on Friday is goated. I also think to become more efficient at home, you gotta have those working relationships exist that are forged in the office. Like wfh as a first year kinda sucked given the lack of support imo. But now as a 2nd year, wfh is terrific.

Lot of rambling here but I am a bit surprised at the consensus of this thread.

 

this is the consensus bc new WSO is full of gen Z brats who shouldnt have gone into finance at all...

As an observer from outside the US, it is clear to me the problem with investment banking/high finance in the US is that (i) it pays too well, and (ii) it has too many junior positions open, so it is an easy route for graduates...

Like seriously, you're getting paid 200k a year at 22 to learn stuff about business all day, and you don't even want to be in an office for that?

this is pathetic

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”