Overworked quants?

[bigbadwolf]

Quants are notorious for working long hours so I when I saw a short piece on overworked and overstressed Americans earlier today on the "Russia Today" news network, that's whom I immediately thought of. Anyway, an excerpt from the transcript:

A new study finds the land of the free, has become the land of the overworked and stressed.

Psychologist, Peter Fraenkel, says the U.S. workforce is close to being burnt out.

"We've got a culture that doesn't know how to take a break and revive and renew and replenish. And overtime leads to burnout," Peter Fraenkel said.

... This type of work ethic has ignited a vacation shrinking syndrome in the U.S. In New York City, it seems like everyone is infected with the more-work mantra. Round the clock, any hour, the so-called rat race never stops. People are always on the go, most taking no time to recharge.

Statistics show Americans work more hours than any other nation, but receive the shortest vacations in the developed world. Averaging half the number most Europeans receive.

But all work and no play is backfiring. A study by the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical lists America at the top of the list of most depressed countries. The rising stress from no rest is making people sadder, sicker, less productive. Leading some to dub America - Prozac Nation.

U.S. government reports show antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the country. In the past decade the use of medications such as Prozac has nearly tripled.

 

[MNB]

Wait a minute, I've seen a number of individuals arguing that quants will no longer be required at all, or at least no new quants. In which case may I assume that quant work levels are going to slide dramatically over the coming years?

And Prozac prescriptions will plummet?

 

[evil]

Wait a minute, I've seen a number of individuals arguing that quants will no longer be required at all, or at least no new quants. In which case may I assume that quant work levels are going to slide dramatically over the coming years?

And Prozac prescriptions will plummet?

where'd you read that?? source?? I doubt thats gonna happen......and even if it did quant skills are transferable to any other industry. Can always go back to science and engineering or anything that requires the study of random variables which can mean a lot of things in this big uncertain world that we have not taking into account finance and economics. The maths is the same everywhere just applied to different contexts particularly stochastic calculus and as for programming goes, thats really just a tool to do our calculations much faster.Theres a reason why there called "quantitative" analysts and not "financial" analysts...

Quants are a rare find, there will always be a place for them even if its not in finance...

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Compared to majority of typical US workplace, jobs in finance are one of the most stressful with the longest hours. Many do it for the compensation. If you can make it, the reward is great. If you like the thrill and can take the downside, it's once in a life time opportunity.
I would take being an overworked quant anyday over underworked or worse out-of-work quant.

 

[Peter]

I can easily work 60 hours or more (I guess you'd call me a quant developer). The pay is phenomenal -- I have *no* complaints in that department. But my job is kind of like the military. It's pretty cushy for stretches of time until a "push" comes, and suddenly you'd think the world was coming to an end. When that happens, home basically becomes a place where I take a nap and shower.

I normally don't mind. I take a great amount of pride in my work. It's very satisfying. The salary and "cushy periods" make up for when the big pushes happen. But one downside is that it's somewhat inconsistent with a student's schedule unless the professor is understanding about due dates. Secondly, I really feel like I could use more vacation.

I'm not sure about Prozac though... last thing I would need is to have a fuzzy head when the tolerance for mistakes is basically zilch. Stimulants would be more like it!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Stimulants?
Redbulls and coffee don't work well with me. I tend to write a few extra lines of code when super-hyped.
All I need for extra energy is one of my managers standing behind my back yelling "Are you done yet?" every 10 minutes.

 

[Peter]

Yeah, stimulants. I drink coffee in the morning. I drink coffee throughout the day. I drink coffee on my way to my classes. I get a coffee before class starts. I drink coffee with dinner. I have coffee with milk and sugar for dessert.

I'm not talking about writing a few extra lines of code ... I'm talking about keeping my head off the keyboard. I can stay up to 2:30 3 or 4 times in a row. But towards the end of the week, I really begin to suffer if I don't catch up at least a little. :sos:

I also love Penguin Mints and chocolate covered espresso beans. I've tried the caffeine soap from think geek, but it didn't really do much for me.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Ah, all you need is Drive Alert Master (pack of 2). I heard it works in the cubicle setting as well.

The Drive Alert Master is an ergonomically designed device that prevents you from dozing away during long drives. No one wants to fall asleep at the wheel but it does happen when you have a large dinner and a few drinks under your belt. Drive Alert beeps loudly when you begin to doze and your head starts to slump forward.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Yeah, stimulants. I drink coffee in the morning. I drink coffee throughout the day. I drink coffee on my way to my classes. I get a coffee before class starts. I drink coffee with dinner. I have coffee with milk and sugar for dessert.

I also love Penguin Mints and chocolate covered espresso beans. I've tried the caffeine soap from think geek, but it didn't really do much for me.

You are young yet, but you will pay a price in health for this further down the road. And no matter what they're paying you, it doesn't make up for lost health. This is a Faustian pact.

 

[MNB]

You are young yet, but you will pay a price in health for this further down the road. And no matter what they're paying you, it doesn't make up for lost health. This is a Faustian pact.

I think the old regime paid enough to make up for the workload (although I can't vouch for the quant blitz periods - I did a more consistent 12-14 hour day every day).

The new regime, if bonuses and base pay are suppressed as much as has been demanded by a largely ignorant public, will not adequately make up for it. I hope that it would start an exodus from the sector/industry so that it becomes obvious to governments and the public that finance professionals are being compensated as per efficient market hypotheses.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Yeah, stimulants. I drink coffee in the morning. I drink coffee throughout the day. I drink coffee on my way to my classes. I get a coffee before class starts. I drink coffee with dinner. I have coffee with milk and sugar for dessert.

Now your avatar makes lot of sense :-k