People who work on Wall Street are anonymously sharing stories of suicide, verbal abuse, racism, sexism, and sexual harassment while lifti...
People who work on Wall Street are anonymously sharing stories of suicide, verbal abuse, racism, sexism, and sexual harassment while lifting the lid on what it's really like to have a career in finance.
Wall Street Confessions — an Instagram account that has been dubbed 'Wall Street's Gossip Girl' — has become a safe haven for whistleblowers looking to expose the wrongdoings at big banks and investment firms.
Riya Sharma, a 22-year-old content strategist, launched the account in 2019 while double majoring in finance and international studies at Marymount Manhattan College.
She has since dropped out of college, and Wall Street Confessions now has more than 128,000 followers, including Jefferies CEO Rich Handler.
Professionals who work on Wall Street are anonymously lifting the lid on what it's really like to have a career in finance, from abusive bosses and burnout to issues of racism and sexism
They are sharing their stories on the Instagram account Wall Street Confessions, which has become a safe haven for whistleblowers looking to expose wrongdoings in the financial world
Posts are submitted through an online portal, and while there are some positive stories, the account is mostly used as an outlet to air grievances without retribution.
Burnout, verbal abuse, and suicidal ideation as a result of being overworked are hot-button issues that are brought up time and time again in the posts.
One person detailed how a seemingly happy co-worker had died by suicide after a year of secretly struggling following a relocation.
'There was a guy in the team who was always energetic, cheerful, and positive and came to work every day ready to help others who needed it. Until he didn't,' the anonymous finance employee wrote.
'Later we were informed he had committed suicide after logging off for the day. Some of us commented privately that he had been quiet during the week and looked exhausted but we never even reached out to say hi. The guy had just completed one year in the country after relocating, and was lonely and compensating this with overwork.
'Please, please, do not overlook this — mental health is important!' the person added. 'Take care of each other. Rest in peace, Tom.'
Posts are submitted through an online portal, and while there are some positive stories, the account is mostly used as an outlet to air grievances
Someone else admitted to turning to alcohol, writing: 'The burnout is real. I've thought about going to a shrink, but my insurance won't cover it, so I just drink, cause my firm pays for that.'
Another insisted that the managers at banks and investment firms don't really care about their employees' well-being and would punish them if they knew they were struggling.
'It's so frustrating to see all this stuff about taking care of your mental health and preventing burnout because it's just an HR stunt,' the Instagram user griped. 'We know damn well if we told any of our managers we were at our breaking point, we'd be pushed until we snapped and then let go for "staffing reductions" within the year.'
Someone else claimed that a managing director told an employee who was battling a drug addiction that he couldn't go to rehab.
'A trader on my desk recently came out as being addicted to prescription pills,' the person explained. 'When he said he'd be taking a month off for intensive rehab, our MD said, "We need you on the desk, rehab can wait until the end of the summer." Trader quit the next day.'
However, there were some people who wrote posts that praised their bosses for helping them manage burnout when they were struggling with work-life balance.
Burnout, verbal abuse, and suicidal ideation as a result of being overworked are hot-button issues that are brought up time and time again
'I was in a dark place. I was depressed and suicidal due to the lack of balance and control in my life,' one professional recalled. 'My MD noticed something was off and took me aside to talk, and he couldn't have been more supportive. He made me take time off, found me resources, and checked in regularly with me. He saw me as a person, rather than an employee, and him giving a s**t is why I'm here today.'
Drug use is another topic that comes up frequently on the account, with a number of people saying that cocaine is a part of the culture.
'My first day at work, the VP got me to do coke with him and the other analysts,' one analyst wrote in. 'I've never done it before, and now I think it was the wrong move because I want more...'
Another person alleged that a nurse who works at the CityMD near Wall Street 'said that most of the people who come in are there because of nosebleeds from coke...'
Wall Street Confessions also serves as an outlet for women and minorities who have experienced blatant sexism and racism in the finance sector, which is overwhelmingly white and male.
'My MD has asked me to call into our Zoom meetings by phone/turn the camera off during the past few weeks. I found out today it is because our client has gone on rants about the "f**king C****s and their kung flu" have done to their supply chain and rationalized the street violence towards Chinese Americans as fair retribution for the pandemic,' one Chinese American shared.
Wall Street Confessions also serves as an outlet for women and minorities who have experienced blatant sexism and racism in the field of finance
'Instead of standing up for me, my MD has chosen instead to obscure my identity in the fear that my heritage could cause the first to lose business. This is the same man who inspired me by his words of allyship during the death of George Floyd last year. What hurts the most isn't what some racist stranger said — it's what the person I considered a mentor failed to do.'
Someone else encouraged people in finance to report racism to their companies' human resources departments.
'After years and years of listening to the awful, racist rants of the trading floor, I finally made an HR complain,' the Instagram user shared. 'I honestly expected them to just be like, whatever, trading floors are just lockers rooms, but they're taking it seriously and people are getting fired. You don't have to put up with it. Say something.'
One woman recalled being touched 'inappropriately' by an analyst at an open bar social event during her junior year internship.
'When I backed away in horror and told him that this was sexual assault, he became defensive and told me I was asking for it by dressing provocatively at the office. He called me a tease,' she wrote.
'When I brought this up with the associate overseeing his work, whom I had come to trust, he turned on me instead and said that give my body shape, I should pay more attention to dressing conservatively because it invited the male gaze,' she continued.
Riya Sharma, a 22-year-old content strategist, launched the Instagram account in 2019 while she was a student at Marymount Manhattan College
'No one had ever said anything about how I dressed before. They made me feel like I was the problem, and I felt humiliated and defeated into submission and silence.'
She went on to say that the analyst must have found out that she reported him because he made her life 'miserable' that summer.
'I'm a minority woman, and he made comments that "some people are just there to make the firm look good and make us feel good," implying that I was a diversity prop and eye candy,' she recounted.
She also claimed he took photos and videos of her and excluded her from social interactions, though she can't prove it.
'I lost a lot of weight that summer in the hopes that it would minimize my curves and had several mental breakdowns,' she shared. 'When I returned to school, I knew I couldn't go back but still wanted to work in IB at a different company.
'Many people asked me why I would give up an opportunity at that group at that bank, which only further reinforced my sense that I had f**ked up and I was the issue.
Sharma has since dropped out of college, and Wall Street Confessions now has more than 128,000 followers, including Jefferies CEO Rich Handler
'The experience deeply traumatized me and made me develop an unhealthy relationship with my body. I have been in therapy and feel much better, but I will never forget the way I was introduced to the challenges of being a woman in the workplace,' she concluded.
One professional claimed to know a partner who continuously insinuates that the only reason women are promoted in the firm is because of 'gender quotas.'
'Every time we get organizational announcement emails about women moving to new roles in the firm, one of the partners on my team asks if anyone else saw the announcement and then describes it as them getting ahead because of gender quotas,' the person wrote.
Others shared how they got revenge on their horrible bosses.
'On the last day of work I went into my MD's office and poured milk behind the shelves in his office,' one Instagram user confessed. 'I heard from coworkers the smell drove him nuts for months. That'll teach him to send a "pls fix" email at 4 a.m. on Christmas Day. '
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