The atmosphere was positive, hilarious - no negative or "crisis vibes" in the air. Talk of the party: past holidays, coming holidays, the next party, the new car.
When I talked to Thomas - stockbroker from Frankfurt, he told me that he is in such a good mood because he just came back from 2 stunning weeks in Ibiza. He told me he had the best time, partying everyday, luxurious beach parties and beach clubs, rented a boat and had a great time with his entourage. So I asked him if he doesn’t feel the crisis - especially in his job? "In the beginning of this year, we had a decrease in income of about 30%, but now it’s on a brilliant level again. There is always something going - the stock exchange is not dead - like everybody might think. I am doing great business here." I also asked him if he changed his behaviour in some ways since the crisis or if it had an affect on his private, leisure life?! He said that of course it has changed everybody who works in the stocks business. You are probably more cautious - but to be good broker you must be aggressive and take risks - and it seems that everybody is on this level again....and privately? - he laughed and told me he would send me a picture from his Ibiza trip which would perfectly answer my question....
I also met Anna at this party. She just changed her job 6 months ago. She used to work in an investment bank in the M&A department. She was completely fed up with this business - "on high speed through the world." She worked 17hs - 7 days a week. Just money, money, money, growth, growth, growth... of course - she earned a hell of a lot of money - but she couldn’t even spend it. So she decided "to become a good person and change life completely." The crisis hasn’t been the main reason, but it seemed like an accelerator and enforcement for changing something.
She is now working for a private equity company which is just investing in renewable energy. Of course she has a lower salary now - but she has much more time to live and enjoy life and friends. And she is so happy that she can do something positive for the environment. (Something she didn`t care about at all in her last job - just numbers counted.) However, the first months in her new job were quite hard for her - she had to change completely: 4 gears down - de-accelerate, slow down and become much more responsible and conservative in her decision making. "Sometimes my colleagues looked at me and thought oh my god - what kind of stressful and over ambitious person is this?! I really had to get used to it - but it is a great process for me. And the funniest thing is: the capital of the family we are managing in the private equity company has increased since the crisis. It is amazing. They have profit from the crisis because they are the most conservative investors in Germany. Everybody was laughing at them before the crisis because they were investing so risk averse 'and could get much more out of it' - and now we are laughing!"
When I talked to Florian - a Consultant at BCG he told me that "oh yes, we do feel the crisis - not me personally - but the company did. There are many people losing their jobs at the moment, but my department is doing great. Our figures are over plan - we also planned so conservatively - amazing. It would have been the worst year ever, but now it’s great!" He said that their business and tasks have changed completely - normally they stand for innovation and growth. But what they are doing at the moment are mainly restructuring processes for cost cuts. It has been strange in the beginning also for the attitude of the employees - working for "growth and innovation projects" is much more attractive than "reducing costs". Especially when you tell people what you are doing - the sexiness is kind of out. But he said they all got used to it and they are still earning very good money. He also told me that the crisis hasn’t affected his personal behaviour or plans. The next ski trip to Lech (in Austria - luxurious skiing location) is already planned -same 5 star hotel like always. But he has changed his personal investment behaviour - he's gotten much more conservative and cautious about how he is investing his savings.
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