The death of 21-year-old British banking intern Moritz Erhardt has put the nature of entry-level work for financial institutions under the microscope.
The undergraduate student reportedly crumpled to the ground and died in east London last week, after having worked until 6 in the morning for three days in a row as an intern for the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, according to CNN.
Erhardt was finishing up the sixth week of his seven week-long internship when he passed away.
Interns like Erhardt get around $70,000 a year for these kinds of internships.
Although Erhardt's cause of death has not been confirmed yet, a German business student's passing after being overworked has caused the public to reevaluate the legitimacy of intern culture in the business and financial sectors.
Professor at Cass Business School Andre Spicer reported to CNN that interns working for these corporations toil to the bone, vying for their employer's attention amid a sea of fellow students who are competing for the very same thing. They're expected to demonstrate complete allegiance to company, even before being hired.
"The real reasons are cultural," Spicer said. "All-nighters are seen as a rite of passage. They show an intern is willing to push themselves beyond any reasonable limits at work...if large firms hope to be sustainable and attractive to employees, they need to tackle the extreme hours culture."
According to Katerina Rudiger, head of skills and policy campaign at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, employers try their best to make an internship a valuable learning experience. Balance, she told CNN, is key for making sure that interns don't get overworked.
"Young people can really struggle with market access and they can be quite desperate...to get their foot on the job ladder and are willing to do whatever it takes," she said. "In some cases that can be too much. Another issue is that a lot of young people have not experienced a work place before, so they don't know the rules and what is expected of them. They don't challenge their employers."
According to Reuters, some of these interns face 20-hour long workdays-crunching numbers, feeling the competition, only going home to have a quick shower, then get back to work.
Not only does this apply massive pressure upon the young backs of new workers, it also incentivizes unhealthy lifestyles to keep up. Many interns and employees alike use drugs to stay awake, guzzle energy drinks, and eat unhealthily.
