Stress in the Dealing Room: High Performers Under Pressure by Howard Kahn
Major developments in the international financial markets culminated in the Big Bang of October 1986. Since then, the lives of the people who work in the dealing rooms of the multinational finance houses have been the subject of much debate and controversy, but the potential stress problems faced by those who buy and sell money have been little discussed. Stress in the Dealing Room addresses the stress problems of Dealing Room staff. Based on a detailed study of over 200 Dealing Room staff, the authors find that the typical dealer drinks too much, takes insufficient exercise, is poorly managed, and is likely to encounter mental and physical health problems in the future. Female dealers and those who work in US-owned financial organizations were found to be particularly at risk. The authors identify the sources of these negative problems and suggest ways in which individual dealers and the organizations in which they work can take action to remedy and prevent the costly consequences of stress. Many of those who work in the new, rapidly expanding technology-based professions encounter similar kinds of stress.