GUEST COMMENT: Why are financial services professionals so happy?

8 December 2008

2 minute read

GUEST COMMENT: Why are financial services professionals so happy?

Every quarter, we run a 'happiness at work' index. The most recent index threw up a quite startling fact. Apparently, two out of every three banking and financial services professionals are happy at work. Faced with a spiralling economy, mass redundancies and an increasingly gloomy financial outlook, it seems huge swathes of office dwellers are still enamoured of the financial world.

Yes, I know, it surely can't be true, right? We were sceptical of the results ourselves, but the index takes in the opinions of over 1,000 people and has become a trusted barometer of mood. So, the question therefore has to be: why?

The cynic may ask if the respondents were answering the questions with one eye on their boss, trying desperately to hold onto their job by looking painfully content. However, the survey was done entirely anonymously and completed to the highest standards of accuracy by a specialist research company.

Another, and perhaps more worthwhile answer, is that financial services professionals work in the industry because they thrive on the environment it provides. As well as being generally happy, more than half reported relatively low levels of stress. Fifty-five per cent of all professionals in banking and financial services said they were feeling minimal levels of stress - only slightly lower than the national average.

What's more, it seems that around one in three (31%) banking and financial services employees are actually more optimistic about their career prospects that this time last year. It's a surprising trend if you pay any attention to the media headlines of recent months, but the good talent that is securing good roles tends not to make the newspapers.

The point is that the mood on the ground floor seems at odds with the media perception. Yes, if you work in a company that's on the verge of going under, you're unlikely to be over the moon with your work situation. But the overall picture is one of professional people prepared to tough out the storm if they can, still committed to a job that they essentially enjoy.

AUTHORAlison Burgin

Insider Comment

Jo
John
9 December 2008
City AM is full of doom and gloom. They survive on advertising so it won't be long before they're gone!
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op
opsman
8 December 2008
Frederick..c'mon you telling a few porkies i reckon..be serious..we are in the early stages of one of the worst recessions that most people will ever have seen.
You will not be getting 6 x last years 6 figure bonus..very few will be and certainly no one who can spare the time to write on this medium..most of us have little else to do, from my vantage point i can see probably 50% of my colleagues working on Facebook, ebay and for the young element Bebo.There is very little to do and i do work at a hedge fund (ops not trading) we are doing o.k and running at positive return which is better than most. i can only think of 2 significantly sized funds that are up 40% YTD and they are trimming staff too
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An
Anon
8 December 2008
Article for the sake of writing, Everyone in the financial services are nervous, i have stopped reading City Am, It has not carried one positive article for the last 6 months, Everyone knows that it is not all great out there, but media has really made it look so bad that there is fear in everyone's mind's. Amazing what media can/cannot do.................
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An
Anon
8 December 2008
This is sheer propaganda. I don't know about everyone else, but my firm cut c.20% of front-office heads, and regardless of how much you like your job it's never nice to see your colleagues, friends, or even people you only mildly like the look of, lose their jobs and leave an empty desk behind. It's a demoralising atmosphere for everyone.
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Fr
Frederick
8 December 2008
"At present with almost all sensible people having at leat some trepidation over their or their employers prospects, with low or no bonuses on the horizon"
My bonus is going to be a MULTIPLE of Jan-08's. And Jan-08's was a decent 6 figures.
I hate these ridiculous assumptions that nobody's going to get paid. Couldn't be more wrong... a ton of global macro hedge funds are up 40%+ YTD to begin with...
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