To ask those of you who work in the City....

[Moremangos]

DSis recently moved to London and has a PA type job working for a big financial firm. We met for a catch up yesterday and I was shocked to hear about the goings on in her workplace. A number of affairs between the senior male staff and junior female staff members, drunken week nights out and DSis having to book various seedy hotel trips which are not for work purposes, drug use seems to be commonplace and a general culture of female staff members sleeping with and/or flirting with senior staff members to ‘get ahead’. As a feminist and someone who works in a small village for a small company, I have to say I am totally shocked that this still goes on. DSis seemed to think these type of goings on are quite normal in such workplaces and are generally accepted as the norm.

For those of you who work in the City in similar sectors or large firms, I’m interested to know whether this is the case in your experience?

I also work for a big financial firm and this doesn’t happen. Banks that tend to focus on ethics or behaviour don’t tend to attract the type of people who would misuse company resources like this.

Seconded - I work for a recognised high street name in financial services and this kind of thing was stamped on years ago. I'm not saying it doesn't happen at all, but what you wrote sound like an entire culture that's rotten from the top down.

There's a huge focus on behaviours and being accountable in most large firms - our senior leadership are paranoid about scandals breaking out in the papers or anything systematic being identified across the company. "Culture" and "values" are the buzzwords and people who don't represent those are identified and pretty much on watch.

In short, not everywhere is like this.

I work in the city and my experience is nothing like this. What industry is she in?

Doesn’t happen where I work. It sounds very far fetched this.

I’m guessing your friend is exaggerating to you. I find it shocking any bank, as regulated as they all are, would tolerate behaviour like this. Finance and banking is headline fodder at the moment

I worked in the city for a number of years (left 2 years ago) and I have never heard of anything like this. I worked in financial services if it makes any difference.

In my experience this is mostly accurate to the firms I've worked in:

• affairs common
• work trips as a method of having affairs
• sleeping your way to a promotion
• culture of drinking
• sexual assault common

Hmm interesting....I must say I was shocked!

Oh, and lots of drug use.

In a precious role the Christmas bonus was offered as cash or coke

Used to work in the City, and my partner still does. But both in large institutions. Never seen this kind of thing AT ALL. I've heard of it in movies and pop culture in the 80s, but around us all very respectful, fairly family friendly (in that there's generous mat leave and flexible working allowed, but still long hours expected etc). What your DSis is describing sounds quite gross.

DH & I have been attached to city firms for over 40 years. That all sounds a bit far fetched

I have worked in large financial institutions since my early twenties. This sort of thing (shagging/drinking/some cocaine use) was more common in the eighties/early nineties, but none of the places I have worked in later years are like this at all. Expense accounts are scrutinized, lunchtime drinking is sackable, and I haven't seen a sniff of coke for years.

I used to work in the City / large London firms - you would get married men suggesting affairs, always declined them. Very few women in very senior positions and I think they got there mainly via hard work, often by not having children, sometimes connections but not affairs. Affairs would often lead to one or other leaving the company. I wasn't aware of lots of affairs but hard to know, certainly weren't lots of public affairs.

Drug use - the odd person was taking drugs but not the norm or anywhere close to it. If discovered they would be out. Using company money dishonestly or time to book hotels for dodgy reasons would also be disciplinary matters.

Lots of friends and exes worked in city jobs and 99% it was all properly professional. Only ever heard of a bunch of guys in one hedge fund where there was a bit of coke and late nights. The second most outrageous was a team at an investment bank staying in the pub having beer after Friday lunch instead of going back to the office (on a handful of occasions). Otherwise, those are demanding jobs and people need to get on with working.

When I've visited friends who work in the city, there has been a bit of recreational drinking and drug use (mainly after work) and the "close working relationship" is not the norm where they were but it wasn't unheard of.

I used to work in a big financial services company in London throughout the 00s (still do just on the the city). Not banking though.

Whilst there was drink and drugs and shagging, this was mostly driven by junior staff who were single and earning good salaries. No abuse of expenses. No relationships to get ahead. There was way worse at my Dhs place of work which was publishing/creative.

Have worked in the City, DH still does, both in large institutional/consulting/financial firms. There was/is always the odd sleaze ball, but overwhelmingly the culture you describe is considered outdated and a disciplinary issue, including being sackable.

Not common at all. There are certainly affairs (as in virtually all workplaces) but in my 15 years in financial services I have never seen women “sleeping their way to the top”. In some of my workplaces there has been significant fallout and sidelining for men who have affairs. My last 2 places have been good environments for women.

Drinking and coke is relatively common place but the latter is commonplace amongst all parts of London society now, especially younger people. I don’t and have never take drugs but will have a drink if convenient.

Most places have robust expense policies so you would need business justification to book a hotel/air fare. I’m sure some of this stuff goes on in small partnership based asset managers but it’s not that common amongst the big players.

In a precious role the Christmas bonus was offered as cash or coke

Am I wrong for laughing? Sounds very precious, @pinkcardi!

I work in the city, and my experience is completely different.

Yes, there is some over the top drinking on occasion, but that's the end of it. Booking hotels for seedy purposes? Sounds like a bad 80s movie.

I've now moved on from the City, but when I worked there:

Thursday night drinks were the norm- nothing untoward about that, drinks start at 6pm...some people can last longer than others. Some go for 1 and then head home, some stay until 11pm
Sure there was the only office romance, stories of sleezy (usually married male colleagues) sleeping with some woman in the office
Never saw any drugs...advertising that would be a sure fired way to get fired!!! (I'm sure many people do it though)

Yes except for the hotel room bit. I think it's because the firm is a prestigious practice run by dinosaurs. Prestige is not worth putting up with sexual assault and daily causal sexism though.

Less of women sleeping with senior men to get ahead, than senior men sexually harrassing more junior women.

A little bit of the behaviour the OP’s sister describes went on in the (then) ‘Big six’ accountancy practice I trained in during the mid nineties, but the workplace is entirely different now. It’s barely recognisable. Younger colleagues are astonished that we would go out for lunch back in the day and have three glasses of wine.