Working conditions for junior staff at some of the world’s largest investment banks have once again hit the headlines following two deaths this month at Bank of America (BofA).
Leo Lukenas, a 35-year-old US Army veteran and BofA associate based in New York, passed away from a blood clot on 2 May.
Shortly afterwards, Reuters reported that Lukenas had told a recruiter in mid-March that he was considering leaving BofA for a boutique investment bank because he was working 110-hour weeks at the Wall Street titan.
His death triggered a deluge of anonymous posts on online forums like Reddit and Wall Street Oasis with users detailing their own alleged experiences with long hours in the industry.
Then last week, 25-year-old Adnan Deumic, a credit portfolio and algorithmic trader at BofA in London, died of a suspected heart attack while playing football at an industry event.
“He probably worked 11 to 12 hours a day, and those hours were incredibly intense,” a company source told the New York Post. “He didn’t have time to get coffee.”
Bank of America did not respond to a request for comment by City A.M. There is no evidence that work played a role in either man’s death.
In previous statements, the bank said it was “devastated” and “shocked” by the losses and that it was committed to supporting their families.
The incidents are not unprecedented for the firm. In 2013, 21-year-old BofA Merrill Lynch intern Moritz Erhardt was found dead in his London flat from an epileptic seizure after working for three days straight. A coroner said fatigue could have been a trigger but that this could not be proven.
The high-pressure world of investment banking has long been criticised for its extreme working hours and a culture of “abuse” from managers that has dragged on junior staff’s mental health.
Twenty-something bankers often report feeling the need to work more than 100 hours per week to impress bosses and break into the highly lucrative industry, which can unlock roles in other financial sectors like private equity.
They are regularly given the most mundane and time-consuming tasks, like creating Powerpoint presentations and compiling Excel data, that keep them at the office long after the senior dealmakers assigning them have gone home.
Interns in London have described what they call a “magic roundabout” as taxi drivers have been known to take them home at dawn, wait for them to wash and put on fresh clothes, then take them straight back to the office.
Last year, training provider Mental Health First Aid England found that 83 per cent of UK financial services employees had considered moving jobs because of the impact of work on their mental health.
Its survey of 1,000 workers also found that 60 per cent of staff said their employer could do more on workplace mental health and wellbeing.
Vicki Cockman, the group’s head of client delivery, told City A.M. that while it had seen a 78 per cent increase in training across its financial services clients after it published the research, more work was needed to improve employee wellbeing and reduce the stigma around mental health.
“MHFA England urges financial services employers to reassess their mental health and wellbeing strategies, ensuring both employees and businesses can flourish,” she added.
“Developing strategies that are both people-focused and aligned with business goals is crucial for creating thriving workplaces. This includes fundamental aspects like work-life balance and flexible working arrangements.”
‘Kill or be killed’ culture
In 2021, Goldman Sachs raised salaries globally for first-year investment bank analysts by 29 per cent to $110,000 – months after a group of 13 junior employees complained about “inhumane” conditions and “abuse” from colleagues.
They had called for their working week to be capped at 80 hours. Goldman CEO David Solomon, who famously opposes the work-from-home trend, said he took the complaints “very seriously” and committed to measures ring-fencing junior bankers’ time off between Friday evening and Sunday morning.
Taking a different tone, Xavier Rolet, the former head of the London Stock Exchange who spent a decade in trading at Goldman, responded by criticising “entitled” recruits – saying he used to work regular 130-hour weeks during the 1980s.
“It’s a free world. If you don’t love what you’re doing or think the hours don’t suit your lifestyle, by any means do something else,” he added.
Staff concerns came after Goldman analyst Sarvshreshth Gupta, 22, took his own life in San Francisco in 2015 – having complained to his father about working 100-hour weeks.
But it’s not just junior workers that have levelled criticism.
55-year-old Ian Dodd, Goldman’s recruiting chief in London between 2018 and 2021, filed a personal injury claim against the bank earlier this year, seeking £1m after “working unreasonable and excessive hours” caused “physical and psychiatric injuries”.
Dodd, who has since founded his own mental health practice, told City A.M. that junior bankers often face “constant deadlines, zero work-life balance and aggressive day-to-day atmospheres”.
“While it might shock some to see 100-hour weeks, sadly that’s the reality in many of the world’s largest banks,” he added.
“These chest-beating, ‘kill or be killed’ cultures, whereby competition haemorrhages into abuse, harassment and toxicity, all leave their mark on staff mental health.”
A full trial is expected to start early next year. Goldman did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it believes Dodd’s claims “are completely without merit”.
Banks have responded to concerns over employees’ wellbeing with policies including tracking and placing restrictions on working hours and requiring special permission for junior staff to work on weekends.
But some have said these measures are easily circumvented by crafty bosses.
“To make right on their wrongs, these enterprises, including investment banks, must publish the fullest set of mental health statistics they currently have – and importantly, they must let the leadership teams lead this charge,” Dodd said.
“They cannot delegate this work to HR.”