EXHAUSTED MERRILL LYNCH INTERN FOUND DEAD AGED 21
Graduate Fog was shocked and sad to hear of the death of Moritz Erhardt, a summer intern nearing the end of his seven-week placement at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London. Friends have said that Moritz – who suffered from epilepsy – was desperate to impress his bosses in the hope of securing a permanent position with one of the big banks in the future.
While the details remain unclear, several of Moritz’s friends have spoken out about the 21-year-old German’s physical state at the time of his death. The official cause is not yet known, but friends say Moritz was working “crazy hours,” and may have worked as many as eight “all-nighters” in the fortnight before he died. All the evidence suggests that Moritz must have been exhausted at the time he died.
Unlike many of those who follow Graduate Fog, Moritz was lucky enough to be paid for his work – and paid well. (Pro rata salaries for City internships tend to work out at around £40-50,000). The total dedication he felt he was expected to demonstrate (including round-the-clock work) was also more extreme than most interns will feel. But many low-paid interns who work less long hours in industries far from the City will still feel huge empathy and sympathy for Moritz. Why? Because they know how it feels to be desperate to impress bosses and get your career started at any cost.
Nobody likes to think of themselves as vulnerable, but interns are. This is largely down to the unique and extreme power imbalance between between an intern and their boss. Both parties know that internship is effectively an extended interview. Do well, and you might get a job here. Screw up, and you’re out. Interns know their performance is being assessed constantly. They also know how valuable the opportunity is – and that hundreds of others will rush to fill their place if they quit.
For many, their internship is also their first experience of the workplace. While some interns are pretty savvy, others are less well equipped to know when an unreasonable demand is being placed on them. They are also less likely to feel empowered to say No to any such demand.
Unsurprisingly, Merrill Lynch warned journalists against making snap judgements about what happened until all the facts are known. John McIvor, head of international communications, said:
“All the rumours and comments are just that, we will have to wait and see what the post-mortem examination says. We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news. He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future.”
We do not need a new framework for protecting City interns – or any interns, for that matter. We do not need new laws. What we need is for managers in all industries to take full responsibility for their staff, whatever their age, and whatever stage they’re at in their career. If someone is so exhausted they are unfit to work, they should be sent home. Interns, like all staff members, must have a designated manager, keeping an eye on them. Not just on their work, but also their health and fitness to work. We are not naive. We know City bosses are not soft, cuddly types. But they are not monsters. Surely even they will reflect for some time on the death of a 21-year-old who was so desperate to impress them that he was prepared to risk his life.
*DO YOU SYMPATHISE WITH MORITZ ERHARDT?
Do interns feel under constant pressure to impress? Have you ever been so desperate to impress that you worked all night, or undertook a task you’ve since realised wasn’t a reasonable request? Or are you a City intern struggling to keep pace with the long-hours, high stress culture? Tell us your story below
“are you a City intern who knows exactly what Moritz felt like before he died? ”
what an incredibly crass question
“Moritz was lucky enough to be paid for his work — and paid well.”
You criticise Brendan O’Neill for sensationalist journalism and trolling then use this tragic story as yet another excuse for your own self promotion? Repellent.
@Just and Observation
Thanks for your comment – and I’m so sorry you felt that any of this post was offensive or crass. I was extremely careful when writing it as it is very important to me that stories like this are handled with sensitivity on Graduate Fog. It is not always easy to get the balance right, and I am grateful for the feedback and always happy to make any changes if Graduate Fog’s readers feel I have got it wrong.
Although I have not received any other complaints, I have changed the wording of the question at the end as you are right, it could have been worded more sensitively.
On the second point you raise, I have decided to leave it as it is as I think it is a fair point. Many interns working in the UK aren’t paid anything at all for their contribution, so in that sense Moritz was fortunate. Of course, there is no amount that is worth dying for, but I do not feel that the post implies that there is.
As for self-promotion, again I feel that criticism is a little unfair. I feel it is vital that important issues affecting graduates are discussed openly, and I am pleased and proud that this happens on Graduate Fog every day.
@All – Did anyone else find this post crass or offensive?
Appreciate you taking the time to respond.
I found it in-offensive.
“Are you a city intern who knows exactly what Moritz felt like before he died?”
I don’t find this offensive, but perhaps a little redundant. It’s not possible to know how Moritz felt before he died. He may have felt top of the world – this isn’t a case of suicide. Alternately, he may have felt overworked, stressed and under pressure. We’ll truely never know.
However, I do think the revised wording better reflects the meaning you intended. You were making an assumption with the original question, where as now there is no assumption and it is simply a question.
As for pay, I think it was a valid point. I didn’t read the mention of pay as an attempt intended to diminish the tragedy. I believe it was simply to contrast the pressures placed on unpaid city interns (high) with paid city interns (super-human levels of pressure).
I’m afraid I did find bits of it salacious and insensitive
“Unsurprisingly, Merrill Lynch warned journalists against making snap judgements about what happened until all the facts are known. ”
Although its not unsurprising, its also very prudent and sensitive that journalists don’t jump to conclusions. I feel you are trying to paint the employer badly here without justification, you could have said “Rightly, Merrill Lynch warned journalists”…..but instead you chose to point a figurative finger inferring that ‘they would say that wouldn’t they’, its unnecessary and somewhat petty.
But what compounds this error is that YOU as a commentator have jumped to conclusions and point to them. By using the terms “if someone is so exhausted they are unfit to work” and headlining it “burned out” you really have jumped the gun and are heavily underlining for the reader what you think the cause is.
For all you know it might be something related to the epilepsy.
All in all I found it very insensitive and speculative at a time when sensitivity and respect is required.
@Dilly
Sorry, I’ve only just spotted your comment. Thanks for taking the time to post it.
Again, I’m sorry you found the piece insensitive. As I said in my previous comment, I was careful when writing it to try and strike the right balance.
However, I don’t agree that the lines you have picked out should be changed. Graduate Fog is a blog, not the BBC. As such, our stories are a blend of news facts and comment / opinion. Most readers understand that, and it’s part of why they love the site. There are plenty of websites that do straight news, if that is what you are after.
Regardless of what is found to be the cause of Moritz’s death, my concerns about the physical state of Merrill Lynch’s interns still stand. Whatever the coroner finds, it is the anecdotal evidence that has emerged from his friends that concerns me. I also think it is safe to assume that if someone is working the kind of hours these interns are said to work, they will be ‘exhausted’ and ‘burned out’. You are of course free to disagree, but for now I will not be changing the wording, unless others have similar objections?
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Certainly, they may be ‘exhausted and burned out’ but I wouldn’t put two and two together and ASSUME that is the cause of death.
Neither would I build a case against ML treatment of interns based on one isolated case.
You are of course free to engage in wild speculation, but its wise and sensitive to highlight that that’s all it is.