Press/Media: Research
The last two decades have witnessed the exponential growth of a new language about employment in major corporations. Replete with the superlative human qualities that these employers expect of candidates, the vocabulary of employability has been fused with the jargon of the “self”. Something very powerful happens through this kind of vocabulary. It provides clues for understanding why employability has gained such overarching importance too: corporations have become almost like temples, and in an era obsessed with the self, we believe that we must become somehow superhuman to meet their standards – it’s a vicious circle in which the self and perceptions of top corporations reinforce one another.
| Title | Goldman Sachs: banks benefit from trainees who think they must be superhuman to measure up |
|---|---|
| Degree of recognition | International |
| Media name/outlet | The Conversation |
| Primary Media type | |
| Duration/Length/Size | 1000 words |
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| Date | 23/03/21 |
| Description | The working conditions at leading investment bank Goldman Sachs are “inhumane” and “abusive”, according to a group of junior bankers who work there. In an unofficial survey circulating on social media, they complained of 95-hour average working weeks and getting only five hours of sleep a night, starting at 3am. Working for such employers is not the only thing that validates people’s sense of self here. The accounting consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) advertised its graduate scheme some years ago with the following message: “Being the one who never stands still.” This is not to suggest that PwC shares a work culture with Goldman, but it encapsulates the other side of the coin to the complaints of the junior bankers: working for such organisations promises personal growth, development, learning, achievement, creativity and so on. These now define the horizon of expectations for such jobs. But when workers reach breaking point, be it in the financial sector or elsewhere, we must recognise this as the moment when superlative expectations run into reality. None of this superlative human “potential” is endless. |
| Producer/Author | Bogdan Costea and Peter Watt |
| Persons | Bogdan Costea, Peter Watt |