August 2025

Employee attitudes in investment banking is a mix of high-stress and high reward. Junior professionals often describe a work culture defined by an 80-100+ hour work week. This is no different than the 1980s, 90s, 00s, or 10s but, unlike the days of “Monkey Business,” the pay wasn’t always adjusted for inflation. This relentless pace is a major source of stress and mental health challenges. However, the prestige and career progression opportunities that come with an investment banking background are seen as highly valuable. The sentiment is that while the hours are brutal, the job provides an unparalleled learning experience and opens doors to a wide range of future career paths. What is not known to these junior employees is that burnout, demoralization, working weekends, not having work/life balance, and often finding nepotism as the only accepted currency for meaningful promotions is the reality within this field. Hedge fund workers find similar conditions and will find similar obstacles, but the compensation as well as the anxiety levels are adjusted higher, accordingly.

Younger folks in financial services report feeling mentally drained and undervalued. Common complaints include being micromanaged to meet sales quotas, dealing with complex customer issues, and a lack of respect from both management and clients. Many feel their low pay does not justify the high stress, with a sentiment that the job is a "revolving door." Just like some of the board members of this organization felt early in their careers in finance, many in this sector feel compelled to and eventually do migrate to other industries where there transferable skills and higher-than-usual tolerance to stress can be major assets that employees of other business services jobs (especially advertising and marketing) may not possess.

Public accounting is a key source of dissatisfaction, with many on social media describing a model of "pure exploitation." The sentiment is that employees at accounting and auditing firms are poorly paid for the long hours they work, and the firm's partners are often "clueless" about the actual grunt work. However, many see it as a necessary stepping stone for long-term career satisfaction and greater earning potential in corporate finance or industry. In contrast, those in financial planning and analysis (FP&A) roles, especially in Fortune 500 companies, report a much better work-life balance, with many working 40-50 hours a week and earning good salaries in a lower cost of living area. The sentiment in these roles is generally much happier.

The finance and accounting sector is in a period of change. The overall job market is showing signs of a slowdown, with job openings decreasing in finance and insurance by 142,000 in June, but this trend masks a critical talent shortage in specific areas like accounting, cybersecurity, and data analysis. This is creating a challenging hiring environment for employers and giving qualified candidates significant leverage.

For the most part, the finance and accounting industry is focused on retaining loyal and skilled employees, but has been and always is investing in AI solutions to sales and operational roles and processes to automate and eliminate as many non-essential employees as possible. Jack Welch’s practice of “rank and yank” is once again proliferating pari passu to AI integration.