Following a recent spate of apparent suicides, big banks and other financial firms are being pushed to look into making cultural changes that could improve the mental health of their employees.
Eight financial professionals have reportedly taken their own lives in 2014, many in rather public ways. Six of the eight either jumped from a building or leapt in front of a train, according to the New York Post.
Wall Street is now taking notice. Nearly two-dozen firms, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, have joined the City Mental Health Alliance, a new group aimed at improving the mental well-being of financial professionals. The group’s chairman, Peter Rodgers, told Bloomberg that Wall Street has already made a number of efforts along this vein – likely referencing the new work-life rules for junior bankers – but the initiatives “need to be accepted by a cultural change at the very top.”
Experts told the site that the hard-working culture of the banking industry could hold some blame. Suicide risk increases for those who “have not cultivated friendships, networks, outside of their company,” one expert told Bloomberg. It’s the personal networks that act as “safety valves” in times of crisis, he said.
While banks and cooperative groups do their own research, London investigators have launched coroners’ probes into two apparent suicides in the City – one involving a Deutsche Bank exec and the other a J.P. Morgan VP. The first inquest will begin today, with the other scheduled for late May.
Job Market Pulse (eFinancialCareers)
In this week’s hiring roundup, private bankers are needed in the East, a bond giant makes an equities push and a once-fertile financial capital begins to regain its footing.
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Buzz Around the Office
A French math teacher has concocted a brilliant technique for keeping his students in line. If they act up, he writes a spoiler for Game of Thrones on the blackboard.
Quote of the Day: “If you look at other big European banks that are less profitable than us, their CEOs are being paid at least €8m. Personally I will get €3m. French banks in that respect and their top executives are very reasonable people. That is the way it is. It is good enough.” – Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, chief executive of BNP Paribas
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