Goldman Sachs restricts intern workday to 17 hours in wake of burnout death

[jimmy olsen]

How generous of them!

www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/17/goldman-sachs-interns-work-hours

Goldman Sachs restricts intern workday to 17 hours in wake of burnout death

The benevolent firm introduced new work hours for summer interns after Bank of America Merrill Lynch intern died from seizure induced by all-nighters.

Rupert Neate in New York
@RupertNeate

Wednesday 17 June 2015 22.32 BST
Last modified on Thursday 18 June 2015 14.48 BST

Go home before midnight, and don't come back before 7am. Goldman Sachs – one of Wall Street's toughest firms – has told interns they have got to work hard, but not too hard.

The new rules, introduced for this summer's crop of investment banking interns, have been introduced "to improve the overall work experience of our interns", a Goldman Sachs spokesman said. All of its summer interns across the world were informed of the new working hours rule on their first day in the office earlier this month.

Wall Street's shift to caring capitalism comes in the wake of the death of a 21-year-old Bank of America Merrill Lynch intern who had regularly pulled all-nighters in a desperate bid to impress his bosses.

Moritz Erhardt was found dead in the shower at his London accommodation after working 72 hours straight. An inquest found he died of an epileptic seizure that could have been a triggered by his long working hours.

Shortly after Erhardt's death, Goldman Sach's chief executive Lloyd Blankfein told his interns that they shouldn't give over their whole lives to the firm. "You have to be interesting, you have to have interests away from the narrow thing of what you do," he said. "You have to be somebody who somebody else wants to talk to."

[The Brain]

In Sweden we have laws that regulate how long hours you can have people work.

[Monoriu]

In Sweden we have laws that regulate how long hours you can have people work.

Yeah but then they claim the staff "volunteered" to stay.

[The Brain]

In Sweden we have laws that regulate how long hours you can have people work.

Yeah but then they claim the staff "volunteered" to stay.

Doesn't matter. They can't volunteer to work without safety equipment either.

[Syt]

Hm.

On the one hand, more humane conditions for the weakest members of the hierarchy. On the other hand, fewer dead investment bankers.


I have to think on this.

[Legbiter]

Hm.

On the one hand, more humane conditions for the weakest members of the hierarchy. On the other hand, fewer dead investment bankers.


I have to think on this.

[KRonn]

Seventeen hour daily work limit? How will new people ever rise very far in their careers!   

[Razgovory]

Looks like JR will have less time to post during the day.

[jimmy olsen]

In Sweden we have laws that regulate how long hours you can have people work.

Socialism!