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Original poster

27 year old lawyer commits suicide apparently as a result of stress caused by regularly working 16 hour days.

74 replies

Bubble99 · 14/02/2007 20:51

I've never had to work in an organisation that requires this. A few hours sometimes added, by agreement, onto a shift when I worked for the NHS maybe, but nothing like this.. Mr Bubble and I run our own business and often have to work at home on weekends but I imagine this is different because their is nobody expecting us to do it.

I'm sure there are those who will think that - 'If you can't stand the heat etc...'

But does any job really require this amount of hours daily? How much is work and how much is 'being seen to be that last man/woman standing?'

I know a lot of women in these pressure-cooker type jobs often get a lot of grief for leaving 'early' at 6pm to get home to their families. One that I know has told me that others (usually men) in their offices are still at their desks but not actually doing anything.

Have any of you experienced this kind of work culture?

OP posts:

ComeOVeneer · 14/02/2007 21:31

Deadlines are sometimes set by clients and sometimes there is (in law) a period of time in which something must be completed.

Dinosaur · 14/02/2007 21:31

Thanks, controlfreaky - I was struggling there!

controlfreakyandroses · 14/02/2007 21:32

me too dinosaur!

Twinklemegan · 14/02/2007 21:35

I wasn't criticising the young lawyer Dinosaur, I was expressing sadness really. I think it is very very sad that people can end up in that position and I do wish that they could realise that it really isn't the end of the world. I do appreciate that parental expectation, fear of failure etc. probably played a huge part in this. But I still think the city culture and unrealistic client expectations, not the intrinsic demands of the work, is to blame.

Dinosaur · 14/02/2007 21:36

Well, just steer your DCs away from it, Twinklemegan .

Twinklemegan · 14/02/2007 21:45

Certainly will Dinosaur. As you may have gathered I think there are many things in life much more important than earning shedloads of money.

Dinosaur · 14/02/2007 21:48

Shedloads of money are not to be sneezed at, though.

If I had my time again I think I would have been sure to marry someone with shedloads of money, instead of looking several gift horses in the mouth, as it were.

Twinklemegan · 14/02/2007 21:50

Maybe I'm just as I'm on a cr*ppy public sector salary. Not at all of the hours though.

Dinosaur · 14/02/2007 21:51

God, no, me neither, that's why I don't do them any more.

But the money would come in handy .

Caligula · 14/02/2007 22:24

I used to work about 12-14 hours a day regularly in advertising. Would get in about 8 and leave at around 9-10pm. Would leave early on Fridays (Between 7 - 7pm.) My contract said 9.30 - 5.30.

No point in it at all, no need for it, but that was the work culture. And it wasn't even particularly well paid.

A lot of it wasn't really working either, it was pissing about "networking". Though I wouldn't have had time to sit there mumsnetting either though, there were always mad deadlines.

QueenofTarts · 14/02/2007 23:22

Message deleted

tortoiseSHELL · 15/02/2007 21:34

OMG, just discovered this was someone I knew. Good friend of my brothers.

Dinosaur · 15/02/2007 21:37

tortoiseSHELL · 15/02/2007 21:39

We were at school wtih him.

tortoiseSHELL · 16/02/2007 08:41

His parents don't think he necessarily committed suicide - I wonder if it could have been an accident?

Enid · 16/02/2007 08:43

sorry to hear that tortoiseshell

if it is true that it was suicide then it is a miracle that mothers aren't topping themselves all over the place.

tortoiseSHELL · 16/02/2007 08:48

Thanks Enid.
Dh and I were talking about it last night, and he said it was criminal to dangle these huge salaries but put people under such pressure to get them.

I guess although mums work longer days, they get NO salary, so maybe that pressure isn't there. I don't know, it's totally tragic either way.

twinsetandpearls · 17/02/2007 00:40

When I taught full time I worked these kind of hours four days a week, was pissed out of my head every friday,spent saturday being sick and sunday getting ready for another week.

I managed this for about a year and then had a complete breakdown, I can just remember sitting at the end of my bed sobbing at the thought of having to get up another day and do the same. My breakdown saved me otherwise I think I would be another suicide statistic as I was in way over my head and could not cope.

Mhamai · 17/02/2007 00:49

twinset at what you have said and yet it's too a grim reality but not stictly assigned to high pressure jobs, sadly I have just recently become aqquainted with this topic as my dd's df committed suicide last month I have suffered with severe depression in the past and have in the past contemplated this avenue but when it boiled down to it, I couldn't and the only reason I couldn't is because I wasn't able to bear the impact of what I would leave behind, I was and sometimes still am caught in a state of limbo, even when there are times I don't want to live I still don't want to die, there for the grace of ? go I.

twinsetandpearls · 17/02/2007 22:01

I think it must be common in jobs where the work is never done, so no matter how hard I work ( I ahve returned to teaching) and no matter what hours I put in I have never finsihed and could always do better.To this day I find it a real struggle being a teacher and not running myself into the ground. Bubt I have learnt from my mistakes and moct of the time know when to stop.

Bink · 17/02/2007 22:20

tortoiseshell, sorry to hear that. I've found out that (without knowing him in any way at all myself) I do know people who knew him well. Those people, apparently, are not putting first blame on his employers or the pressures of the job - or, indeed, I think, blame on anyone. (This is just to balance out the media presentation.)

Marina · 17/02/2007 22:28

Tortoiseshell, I'm so sorry
I've been reading the news coverage and the corroboration on this thread with incredulity - first time I've REALLY twigged what starting out with a City law firm means. Dd's godfather has been dropped by many college friends (politely but unmistakeably) because he has shipped out to the provinces rather than stay in EC4 for most of his waking hours.
I am now realising he saw what was coming in terms of lack of progression and had, thank heavens, a reality check.
He has a wife and a young child and a fulfilling life outside work, now - more than this poor young man will ever have.

KateF · 17/02/2007 22:46

for you tortoiseshell.
When I qualified as a doctor (many years ago) I worked a 1 in 3 rota, i.e. every third night and third weekend on call with no day off after. I ended up with severe depression brought on by the fear of making mistakes through sheer exhaustion. I took a year off and never went back - I just couldn't face that fear again. My mother has never forgiven me for "letting her down".

KathyMCMLXXII · 19/02/2007 17:48

In my first term as a university lecturer I worked these hours (I had one day off - my 30th birthday), which is common among people in their first academic jobs. Unfortunately one contemporary of mine didn't make it - she took an overdose after a bad set of student feedback on her lectures. Probably exhaustion was the real cause.
If I wanted to succeed in academia I would have to work ridiculous hours; not as long as a City lawyer but there's an assumption you'll spend your evenings and weekends on research - lecturers have no set hours. Fortunately I chose to get married and have a family instead. I now do the minimum I can do and still keep my job.

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