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 worked in the city before I had children and other than a few boozy conferences and Christmas parties it was all pretty clean cut.

It was a professional firm and everyone was expected to behave professionally in and out of work.

There were office romances which actually resulted in several marriages between colleagues but these weren't at all seedy or affairs.

I think it depends on the type of firm, I'd be surprised if the well-known consultancies or banks are like this, very corporate, but I do know someone who is PA to someone with their own venture capitalist business and she does get asked to book the hotel rooms, knows about all the affairs and some people have been promoted on the basis of relationships, so I don't believe this is entirely fantasy. Drug-taking such as cocaine, very common in some social circles, less so in others.

I have a trader friend who told me of similar scenes

Oh she has got carried away working in the Big Smoke and telling you tall tales.

Shades of it truth 15 years ago
But post financial reg tightening up - this doesn’t ring true in any shape or fashion

@Iamthewombat

That had made me laugh too.

It was hideous. Hideous

Anytime you went to the loos there was a poor women in tears. I could tell you all about the worst bits but I don't think anyone would believe me tbh.

I work in financial services type industry not in the city but in a major city.

This is gradually being stamped out in the industry where I work. There are still people that do this, amongst the older guys its commonplace, amongst the younger guys it seems less common, peoples workloads are now too high, there is a lot more transparency and ethical considerations about accepting things on other peoples expenses, a fair few companies have now banned people from drinking at lunchtimes. It's not frowned upon by the people who have served their time as their contacts can prove useful but would be discouraged in any new members of staff. It's a bit sad in a way, there are groups of people with wrecked marriages due to the time they spent partying with colleagues.

My friends who work in other industries do say it's a bit like what they imagine banking in the 80s was like!

It's still very male dominated but I only know two women who have shagged about obviously to get ahead, the rest have shagged about because they wanted to shag about. Plenty of other women have got ahead because they work hard and are good at their jobs (though most of these dont have children, which is a whole other story). Like many industries and companies, lots of companies have an eye on diversity (gender diversity anyway) and unofficial positive gender discrimination probably does take place so I dont think there is active discrimination against women however there is a culture of going out which doesnt work with children.

Anyway the stories of people getting boozed and coked up and shagging someone they shouldn't be in the toilets, brighten things up a bit!

Oh and I do know two senior managers who had affairs with junior female colleagues - both were moved sideways to roles they didnt want, as punishments

I worked for financial institutions in the City throughout the 80’s and 90’s, and am astonished at those who say behaviour was above board even then. Not my experience at all, and I worked at all the big merchant banks, in the dealing rooms. Drug use (cocaine was all I ever saw), affairs between older married partners and young secretaries, regularly getting pissed at lunchtime, shagging literally in the office, absolutely massive amounts spent on team lunches to celebrate deals. The last place I worked before I had my first child in ‘98 had countless packets of cigarettes and bottles of wine stored in the kitchen, for us to help ourselves to. To be honest, it was happy days, we all got the work done and made quite good money too. My DH, who is a fair bit younger than me and works in the corporate world, has trouble believing the stories I tell him about those days, such is the disparity between the culture back then and now. It had to change, obviously. I’d tell you more but I’m expecting people to think I’m making it up as it is

I think it depends on the firm. Most of the banks and major institutions stamped this out decades ago. Some of the less forward looking/non brand name environments are still like this (eg insurance underwriters, shipbrokers), etc), though even they have killed off the Class A. Go to the NED on a Thursday night and you’ll see it all.

However, in my experience the bigger issue is unconscious bias. For example, when high profile bid teams are put together, it doesn’t occur to the (usually) upper middle class, white, privately educated bloke to choose a diverse team, he just picks a team like himself. And that is far more of an issue for women, BAME, LGBT, etc as it is impossible to challenge. On the positive, a lot of clients have started to raise eyebrows about lack of diversity and nothing will drive change like potential impact on bonuses.

Worked in the City for five years. Never saw anything like that - people drank a fair bit but not more than I think any average UK workplace.

Very unusual. Thursday night drinks can go on quite late but that's it and not everyone joins in or stays late. There is the odd sleaze ball and there are still too many white extremely privileged old men in charge but on the whole that behaviour (especially the hotels and drugs) is quite unusual.

People love gossip though and they love reading into things. Make sure she's not falling for idle gossip...

My brother, who doesn't work in the city but does work in London, used to be able to avail of a whisky trolley on a night when they all routinely worked late.

I saw a fair bit of bad behaviour in investment banking in the late 90s early 00s

Lots of lunchtime drinking, a fair few office dalliances (not to get ahead, just affairs) and a bit of coke knocking about after work.

Worked in the City for about 5 years in the late 2000s. Affairs were extremely common. I actually drifted apart from a good friend who stayed in the industry as she kept going on about her married boyfriend who she’d met at work and I just couldn’t relate to it. When we’d first met we used to laugh at those women who ended up bits on the side.

Drug use - one guy was a heavy user and was given the choice of leave for rehab or be fired after he had a meltdown at a work function. It was not acceptable at all to be using drugs with colleagues from what I saw.

I've worked in support services in the City since the late 80s. I did see some of that kind of behaviour way back when, but absolutely nothing like it over the last 10-15 years! Thursday night is still drinking night, but as far as I am aware everyone goes to their own homes after; there's no drugs, affairs or anything else ever mentioned!

I work in media and it happens.... a lot!!

Worked in two top law firms in the city - other than the affairs (which were all sorts of ages, seniority, gender - not just senior bloke and junior woman), not something I saw. The idea of women sleeping their way to the top is absolutely not the case.

A lot of that still goes on but it’s much more discreet now. I’ve worked at 4 big investment banks. Advertising drugs would get you fired (not that people don’t take them) as would excessive use of the PA for personal stuff (all the senior guys I worked for had private PAs). I have done shots on the trading floor during work hours though, that was probably about 5 years ago, and my previous employer had a booze trolley although it was limited to wine and beer. One bought in a rule that you had to come back to the office after a boozy Friday client lunch (waved in December). I’m sure affairs happened and a lot of young single colleagues dated each other but I didn’t see that much sleaze. Banks are generally very worried about headlines these days.

My ex h is a stock broker. This sounds spot on for every brokerage he ever worked at. Infact I suspected him of having an affair with a co worker. Think it depends what industry you are in. Not all like this.

Sounds about right. I grew up in a rural village then was a PA in London in investment banking. That culture isn't exclusive to London either. I had same in large companies in the Midlands.

Really interesting thank you. Good to hear it’s not quite the norm these days!

I think it’s very down to workplace culture and wider industry culture. I work in London but not in the “City” scene. Our office is pretty boring and while everyone is lovely and friendly, the only time we meet up for drinks is after a multi day meeting or other event when people reluctantly oblige or at Christmas parties. Sometimes we go for cake and coffee though!

But it certainly is the norm some places. I had lots of friends when I was younger (20s/early 30s) who worked in financial/legal/PR sectors who would party most nights and drug use and drinking during work hours/events would have been pretty commonplace. No affairs though really as most of us were single anyway.

I think as a PA though you are privy to a lot of dirt on people. I have a friend who was a PA to the director of a global advertising firm. Her primary job was to fly various mistresses and sex workers around on private jets and make sure they never crossed paths with his wife coming and going from various flats and hotels. She was very well paid for being discreet and keeping her head down.

Unfortunately this is my experience, not working in finance in the city but an academic institute which works with a partner charity organisation helping vulnerable members of specific community! Small team but lots of affairs, day time drinking (on and off premises), drug taking is norm, misogynist behaviour, male boss has slept with at least 3 of the 8 females in team (and tried it on with partner organisations)... it's just a mess! I'm definitely one to do my job, go home and see family as the clique is unbearable!

OP I worked for a while at a venue in the heart of the City. Financial and insurance companies in London would use the venue regularly for various purposes and all of what you describe went on. It was pretty grim really. Lots of cocaine, affairs (or sex at least), big age gaps, the use of escorts, big business deals going on based on entertainment and socialising. Lots of rude, slimy people with high expectations.. Glad to be out of that industry.