If money is the root of all evil, does that make Pierpoint the centre of hell? Employees at the fictional bank in the hit TV drama Industry certainly walk, talk and powerdress like the devil himself. But do the cutthroat antics of Industry’s beautiful twentysomethings reflect reality? Does the gen-Z meets The Wolf of Wall Street vision tarnish the good name of multinational investment banks? Is workplace sex as rife as the show suggests? Or is the excess simply excessive?
We asked young finance workers from top firms – including Rothschild and JP Morgan, the ones Pierpoint modelled itself on. They all consulted their contracts, chose their pseudonyms and they all confirmed one thing: in the City, a quilted gilet still reigns supreme.
Hugo, 29, former analyst
I had a prestigious summer internship at a place similar to Pierpoint – but only lasted one summer. The partner I interned for echoed so many of Eric’s behaviours in the show – except his language was more colourful (calling us “dumb fucking cunts who had slid too fast out of mummy and smacked our heads”) when we messed up. One night – it was 2.30am – he dressed down a graduate, screaming in her face: “Are you stupid? Are you a fucking stupid cunt?” I had never seen anything like it in a workplace, or on TV, and I haven’t since.
Another partner carried a riding crop like the baseball bat Eric brandishes in the show. He mostly whipped the desk to intimidate interns as a joke, but had this habit of brandishing it when talking to young female staff that gave me the ick. He and another male partner referred to one boy with square glasses as Jimmy Savile and to a girl with a deep voice as Caitlyn Jenner (or just Bruce). They were dicks.
Victor, 31, manager, debt advisory
Industry successfully captures the high-tension environment of that finance world where the cliche ‘work hard, play hard’ becomes a way of life – and is almost a requirement to get ahead. I definitely bought into it at the start of my career and it felt good to be swept up in long hours and big nights out.
It’s a culture that is alive and well. I recently interviewed at a global investment bank and one of its marketing points was “we work hard and play hard”. It’s a tantalising way of life until it burns you out or you/someone plays a little too hard.
Juliet, 31, trader
I have never really been into the drugs thing, but you can just tell there is this acceptance of drugs – especially cocaine – in the City. It’s like part of the job for a lot of people. I once came back from a work party to pick up my stuff and found my colleague unconscious under their desk from the pre-drinks.
Also, the stereotype is true – the typical city worker does have a gilet under the blue suit, with a £40 haircut and the loafer/chinos combo.
Ben, 33, associate
The show is overly antagonistic. Some of the criticism levelled at teammates is a bit over the top. After watching one particular moment, I thought: “I would slap that guy if he behaved like that.” That’s not to say there isn’t criticism or bad language in the City (there are definitely both of those things) but they are not typically directed at new members of the team and are usually reserved for those who fuck things up when they should have known better. I got absolutely dressed down as a graduate by an MD for not having memorised my work phone number (but at least he closed his office door before he started rinsing me).
Recently, a mid-level guy I know was shagging around with more junior members of the bank. For the most part, other people thought he was a bit of a loser for it. In banking, you put a lot of young people into an environment where they are slaves to their work and their social lives suffer. As a result, they turn to easy sources of social contact. Sex and hookups definitely occur and are particularly prominent when alcohol is involved, so Christmas parties are a classic place where people blow off steam.
So it happens for sure – people have sex lives and there are often intra-office relationships, but the show is framed as if most interactions have some underlying sexual tension, which feels a bit overplayed. For the most part, people don’t like to shit where they eat.
