I love my career, but it made me sick
Following the tragic death of Indonesian copywriter Mita Diran, and following a debate on Mumbrella about work/life balance, creative Natalie Cutcliffe shares her own experience of overwork.
I wrote this piece a month ago in response to If you love your career, the hours are (often) worth it. I was too scared to submit it then but the death of Mita Diran gave me the courage.
Yesterday I was made redundant. I walked home and while the expected feelings of rejection, inadequacy and beer sank in, there was the distinct feeling of something else in the mix that I can best describe as relief.
I work in advertising so redundancies are part of the path. But this article isn’t about redundancy; it’s about work life balance. The reason my redundancy has come up at all is because although I was made redundant on the grounds that the company has lost a generous retainer and therefore can’t afford my services anymore, my boss still dropped into my exit interview that: “In Australia ‘we’ don’t do the hours they do in the US or Asia and that ‘global’ don’t understand that.”
Natalie Cutcliffe
To be clear, I work A LOT. Being an advertising creative is not a job you ever clock off from. I love being a creative and think of myself as a workaholic, but not in a bad way.
I often work weekends to crack that big idea the briefs rarely offer up, I arrive to work before my boss arrives in the morning and I leave after he leaves at night. (Advice passed down to me from more experienced creatives while I was still cutting my teeth.)
I burn the midnight oil on pitches and rarely take advantage of the meal the company is obliged to buy us when we are required to be in the office past 8pm, although I’ve always worked for one of the big four global conglomerates. I suggest to do so would be professional suicide.I did not take lunches, I did not take holidays and I performed. I’ve surprised myself with what I’m capable of. My boss made it very clear that I was not being made redundant on the grounds of my performance.
But there was always the implied and even expressed pressure for my creative partner and I to spend more time in the office. Somehow no matter how good the work was, no matter how hard we worked, no matter how many hours we did after we got home, the company wanted more.
In the last few months, my creative partner was starting to complain that she was feeling tired, sick and rundown. She was at the doctor every other day determined to reveal that the stress we were being put under was taking its toll. I guess I felt she was being dramatic, long hours, like redundancies, are what we signed on for. Until that is a little virus knocked me on the head, or should I say knocked on my head.
I took myself off to the doctors making sure to get a sick leave note. It was the second time within four months that I had had a similar thing so, to be sure, the doctor had me take some routine blood tests.
Mita Diran
I was back working again the next day and feeling better so was surprised to find a letter in the mail a short time later asking me to come back in to discuss abnormalities in my blood.
It turns out my blood is all over the place, low iron, no B12, low protein, underactive thyroid, amongst other things. The first question my doctor asked me is if I am a vegetarian. (I am not.) The next question he asked me was if I’m stressed.
Even though my partner’s very real fear that the hours we were being made to work were not showing up in any of her test results, my blood showed the opposite.
It’s like we were both inflicted with the same condition except for I was only affected physically and she was only affected psychologically. Creative partners are said to need to work symbiotically but this is beyond what I’d imagined.
And yet, the industry is still set to get another pint of each of our blood. The docs want me in for another round of tests a month’s time from the first, which poetically, for the sake of this story at least, turns out to be tomorrow.
(For the record, the results from my second round of tests show my blood returning to normal.)
Natalie Cutcliffe is a freelance creative.
Natalie, you worked hard but your boss sacked you. Maybe your boss did you a favour. Without your health you have nothing.
Working long hours day in day out kills your health. And for what? More wallpaper ads.
You’re more likely to come up with ideas when relaxing than under the pump. You can enjoy a career without sacrificing your most valuable asset – your health.
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You don’t sound well and seem to have some unhelpful beliefs (the stuff about not eating the free meal, not taking lunch, getting in before and leaving after the boss). All of these could be addressed by your boss, or someone who cares. But now that you are aware of them – it’s ultimately up to you to take action on them.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Long hours and a caring environment can co-exist – I’ve been at 3 or 4 agencies now and all of them blend the two.
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@Paul Eveleigh you’re right about one thing. I’ve enjoyed more success and more health in the last month while having worklife balance than I have in a long time.
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Bravo for putting it out there!
EVERYONE I know in ad land is working their butts off, exactly like you! Where does it all end? Advertising agencies have dropped their pants on costs and are now constant sweat shops, no matter where you are in the pattern! It will never be enough!
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This raises questions about employer duty of care obligations in such industries.
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Thanks for finding the courage to post this.
We all need to find some balance in our lives and this industry can be ruthless in understanding this and looking after it’s staff.
I was retrenched over a year ago from one of the big multi nationals and my inner peace has never been better.
I still have life problems to deal with, but I’ve got a roof over my head, food on the table and more time with my family.
Good luck with the freelance.
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Hey – sorry about your news and Mita Diran may have paid a very high price – there’s no question there. Hours are generally unreasonable, and as you point out some roles never leave you free, always thinking about ideas, deadlines, even client’s paying their bills. I personally think there is no balance we are just paying a high price to advertise ‘stuff’. It’s an important discussion that senior managers just brush over, and they always have.
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Thanks for sharing your story, Natalie. The industry is notorious for playing “chicken” with it’s workers, daring you to admit to any kind of weakness. There may always be companies who use people up like toilet paper. Finding one who takes on a 21st Century office culture of prizing their talent, you will find more security in your work and a happier place to be during the day. With less stress, your creative ideas come thick and fast. (Man, haven’t they figured that out yet??)
Don’t forget, the clients get suspicious of frazzled looking staff too. They can’t build a relationship with an agency when the reps are different every time they speak to them. In the long term, the agencies who care will continue. The rest will burn out.
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Thanks for sharing, I’m sure many can relate to it.
No job is ever worth your health.
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Join a smaller local agency. While I can’t speak for all of them, I do know of many small Brisbane agencies that don’t try to kill their staff with ridiculous hours.
I part-own a small agency and while I’m often doing 10-12 hour days, I don’t expect that of my staff.
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A company that demands that sort of commitment is an unhealthy place on a number of levels. I had a similar experience last year when I was made redundant out of the blue after giving 120% for nearly 3 years. I was miserable and although redundancy sucks and is really scary. Ultimately it did me a favour and after a bit of trial and error I’m no longer in a toxic environment and having a very good work life balance while still giving my best work.
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Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad to hear your health has improved and so have your successes.
I agree with Nick; management and businesses as a whole have a duty of care to look after their staff. Sometimes, an employee has to take the stand and TELL them.
I was in a similar position for a few months with a colleague and we went to management to let them know – it just wasn’t going to work. We explained what was happening and gave our suggestions that could mean a win-win for the business and the clients (who were, essentially, being let down in the end as they were not being properly looked after).
It was a week or so after that, that we BOTH fell ill at the same time – I ended up in the hospital and my colleague had a week or so off. Management were listening before that, after our initial meeting, but when we were both on sick leave, that was a huge wake up call for them!
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re “In Australia ‘we’ don’t do the hours they do in the US or Asia and that ‘global’ don’t understand that.” Was your boss implying the hours done in the US and Asia are more or less? It seems you worked ridiculous hours anyway so it’d be a big ask if staff there worked more.
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“I arrive to work before my boss arrives in the morning and I leave after he leaves at night. (Advice passed down to me from more experienced creatives while I was still cutting my teeth.)”
They may have been more experienced creatives, but clearly they weren’t very good. Only desperate hacks choose the method of plenty of visible hours working i.e. facetime. The good creatives get the job done and fuck off home. Insecure creatives are the ones who never leave before the boss.
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This message needs to get out more often. I was on the verge of suicide last year. I had the police in my bedroom not allowing me to leave until the ambulance arrived. The hospital wouldn’t let me leave until I was given the all clear from the psychiatrist, that was at 6am. I was back at work at 8am because I of the pressure to be there.
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This is a common case of ‘working for the man’. I used to work at a media agency that BRW awarded one of the best places to work in Australia – it was a room of battery hens getting paid $34k to work till 10.30pm every night. Life’s too short. Get out there and do something you love that doesn’t crush your passion.
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Recommend viewing – Joe and the Volcano…it’s an old DVD well worth viewing.
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Natalie thanks for your story.
You are now freelance and have control of your time. I work freelance as an international news correspondent for global and AU media and lecturer and take on the amount of work I can manage. I also put in my diary allocated times for gymnasium classes, pottery and painting, language classes and time with friends and family. Working freelance – you are your own boss and if you do what you enjoy in work and have a great work life balance – with good health- you will survive and money will follow. Enjoy life as you only have one life – enjoy every day and make sure you have time for yourself and some fun in your life.
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Natalie – thanks for sharing. A great article for anyone to reflect upon.
My advice (for what it’s worth?!) is – get healthy, stay healthy, you’ll wake up happier everyday and no job will ever get the better of you.
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Do you still think the industry shouldn’t have to apologize for long hours?
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Loved the article Nat and as a creative you know life works in mysterious ways… maybe this was the light you needed to seek a healthier more respectful agency!
I saw the light and managed to escape agency land to client side,granted not quite as exciting, but i keep normal hours and spend much more time sleeping and socializing with family and friends and couldn’t be happier.
I hope your next workplace is more aligned with the work life balance ledger.
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I’m continually amazed at how many people believe in the lie that they must work excessive hours under great pressure to succeed in the industry. It is worn as some kind of sick badge of honour. Worse still, employers encourage it and reward it and unreasonable hours are expected to be the norm.
The reality is that it is simply bad management at several levels. Poor management of client expectations and time frames along with disrespectful management of the valuable people. Since when is a toxic workplace an achievement to be applauded and encouraged?
There are some great workplaces among agencies but sadly there are too few of them. Is it any wonder that agency turn-over is so high and careers end so soon?
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Great article.
Shame it took a death for us all to start speaking out against the way we’re forced to work.
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Good article – but for all the ‘what do you say now mat baxter’ comments … there is a difference between working 3 DAYS STRAIGHT drinking excessive amounts of energy drinks and people working “overtime”
Ad/media land breeds martyrs who associate long hours with importance. Often these people are rewarded as managers of agencies and the cycle continues. Many still feel that productivity equals ‘time in office’ but that is a by-product of their own lack of education and development as managers.
Yes Mat made a dumb comment that can be interpreted in many negative ways but it was clear to me reading what he said was that long hours are not something to apologise for if both parties are consenting. He wasn’t advocating forcing people to stay against their will or forcing it upon staff.
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This video explains it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K2m7NnO7iY
(Ignore his pompous style, as the content is key.)
We are professional servants.
Our clients can increasingly be served almost as effectively yet far cheaper elsewhere on the planet.
So margins are being squeezed, and the shit rolls downhill, resulting in longer hours for the same (or worse) pay.
In a globalised economy the smart kids should be getting out of advertising and into plumbing. (The video will explain all…)
And thanks for sharing your story, too. The “work till you puke” culture in advertising is thoroughly odious, but the pressure is coming from the top (clients) down.
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I was a happy fella with good work/life balance until I gradually let it slide due to work pressure. My health deteriorated and my physical fitness got swallowed by an ever-expanding waistline. I discovered I was spending more and more time at work but being progressively less productive.
I finally snapped, put my personal life first and guess what, my work life improved too. I am now more productive and get more done in less time, meaning I can go home at a sane hour every day.
Working long hours does not necessarily translate to better performing employees.
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Natalie – thank you for sharing your story with us all.
…and for anyone who needs to talk to a professional help can be found at:
Lifeline.org.au or call 13 11 14
or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
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Thanks for having the courage to post this, Natalie. I was made redundant recently after several years of working 12-15 hours a day in media. My company expected all that, plus more. Redundancy is scary, but, like you, I’m relieved to have my life back. I suffered both physical and psychological health problems at my last job, and would encourage anyone else in a similar situation to see it as the push you need to get your life and health back in balance.
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Not an unusual position to be in Natalie, the industry is fraught with myths of working earlier, later, harder than everyone else makes you better and will get you further.
Any agency worth its salt these days is considering the health of it’s employees – it creates happier and more productive people. Businesses need to ensure they create the space for innovation to grow and this means allowing creatives and other functions within the business to have breaks and holidays. Clients also need to understand this – creative solutions do not develop in a pressure cooker environment – for long!
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@Tony Simms : wise words. In my experience it was the multinationals who were most guilty of slave driving with performance bonuses for senior management ( or threat of job loss) encouraging them to promise and then struggle to deliver unreasonable results. Often they then buggered off back to where they came from leaving the debris behind. Retrenchments to make the books look better were an acceptable practice, often at Xmas. Smaller local agencies management were usually more in touch with their people and their management was more likely to care about their staff. Downward cost pressure from clients, again often multinationals, exacerbates the problem. Sadly the Madman days are over and advertising is one of the victims of modern times where the reality of the job are just a faded image of the fantasy. It ain’t coming back folks – get a real job.
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There’s no such thing as a career in advertising any more. Most sensible people get out when they realise that agencies are not as good as they claim to be.
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So glad I got out of the Ad industry. I will never even consider going back. It’s no wonder that this industry is dying.
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With all of the agency horsepower on this page alone, aligned on one point of work life balance delivers better agencies and better results for clients…..We certainly would have the best agency around!!!
18/12/13 – Born is the Diran Agency, a respectful agency for its people, by it’s people and a powerhouse of creativity and results for clients.
Anyone have a spare client or two who might be aligned on this new Agency concept, they seem to talk about sustainable business relationships…lol
Ahhh i feel my agency juices flowing again!
K:D)
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Thanks for sharing this Natalie. To often I hear of talented people who burn out because like you they work ridiculous hours for little thanks.
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What we all have to realize is – we’re not curing cancer. It’s advertising. It’s helping companies make more profit by thinking of new ways to tell people to buy stuff they don’t need. You are not your khakis.
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World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2013
Case Study: Karoshi: Death from overwork
Date issued: 23 April 2013
http://www.ilo.org/safework/in...../index.htm
Here are some typical cases of Karoshi copied from this article about Karoshi (death by overwork) in Japanese companies. Read the entire article and ask yourself why! Japanese work culture – that is why!
Mr A worked at a major snack food processing company for as long as 110 hours a week (not a month) and died from heart attack at the age of 34. His death was by approved as work-related by the Labour Standards Office.
Mr B, a bus driver, whose death was also approved as work-related, worked more than 3,000 hours a year. He did not have a day off in the 15 days before he had stroke at the age of 37.
Mr C worked in a large printing company in Tokyo for 4,320 hours a year including night work and died from stroke at the age of 58. His widow received a workers’ compensation 14 years after her husband’s death.
Ms D, a 22 year-old nurse, died from a heart attack after 34 hours’ continuous duty five times a month.
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Natalie I’m SO glad you spoke up.
I’m also a female creative in the industry who consistently burned the wick weekends and nights to meet the demands from my ECD/CD. As a happy-go-lucky, healthy and confident person, I thought I was totally immune to the dangers of work pressures and long hours. I was also guilty of having a slight attitude towards peers who complained about these problems. When you get into the industry you’re repetitively told to suck it up. It’s drummed into your brain in a threatening way.
Turned out I wasn’t immune. For months my work was making me sick. Physically and psychologically. I flagged my fatigue several times and nothing was done. It wasn’t until I was in hospital with a drip in my arm that my CD acted like he gave a flying fck. Even after this I was still made to feel like a hypochondriac.
I’m now working for an agency that gives a shit about work/life balance and I love my job. There’s no metal in the world or an agency worth putting myself and my friends and family through that again.
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Your bosses don’t care about you, they aren’t your friends.
They didn’t bring that six-pack around on a sunny sunday afternoon just to hang out and shoot the shit. They didn’t help lift the couch when you moved house. They don’t care about you. You are a tool, like a hammer. They use you to finish tasks and make them more money.
When you break they get another tool.
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Advertising is a despicable industry.
We trade in human misery, growing fat on fear and envy.
Ours is the voice that whispers in your ear “you will never be enough”. We make people doubt themselves until our voice is the only one they hear.
We grind down their spirits, locking them into a cycle of buying and buying and buying instead of exploring and learning and dreaming.
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Achieving a healthy work-life balance can be very difficult in such a high-pressured industry – tight deadlines, client demands, and competitive cultures can find people at all professional levels feeling compelled to continue far beyond the call of duty. As demonstrated in this story, the effects of these pressures are often issues or feelings rarely vocalised to those within the agency. There are responsibilities on both sides to ensure the health of employees is protected – for agencies, there is responsibility in fostering a culture of flexibility and also openness, to ensure employees feel comfortable to signal when the pressure is too high and when they need support. It is critical for leaders to be proactive, check in with team members and offer support. For the individual, it is their responsibility to recognise when to stop, speak out, and put their health at the top of the priority list. Awareness and empathy on both sides is crucial. It is extremely concerning to read of events where suicide seems to be the only answer, and in such cases, there are a number of organisations whose purpose is to provide guidance and support, from R U OK? (https://www.ruokday.com/) to Life Line (http://www.lifeline.org.au/). There is not a simple solution and the issue requires work on both a management and individual level to create a culture of openness and support.
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I totally understand what you have been through. After working as a content writer for a medium sized company in London for 3 months, I quit. Why? Because we were expected to research, write and edit 25 news stories EACH DAY.
It was not only ridiculous of management to expect quality work, but working from 8am to 8pm or later everyday without taking lunch – as well as being paid until 5pm at just above minimum wage took the cake.
I was beyond stressed and could not believe the ruthless nature of the marketing industry to cut costs (getting rid of our researchers and expecting us to do their job as well as ours – for no extra pay).
I mentioned joining a union with my peers, but they were too afraid they might get the sack. There are always more willing victims itching to take your place in the writing business. What a crock of sh*t.
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Natalie if you don’t understand what’s happening in your social and economic life you need to read up on neoliberalism. Mirowski’s ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’ is an informative book on the subject.
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We studied the dangers of overworking in university studies in the 1960s. Will we never learn?
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Time for an industry-wide charter??
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I was asked to resign from one of Australia’s top agencies a couple of weeks ago.
The reason had nothing to do with my work as a copywriter. We’d just finished a big brand campaign. The clients were stoked. The thing was, I was showing signs of burnout. I was advised that the 50-60 hour weeks would not change, and if I couldn’t cope (I’d gone home sick from the stress twice in two months) perhaps it would be best if I resigned. I felt I had no choice.
The crazy thing about it is that rather than look at changes they could make to create a healthier place to work, or look at how they could help me manage the stress, or bite the bullet and pay for more resources, they decided to simply replace me. This is their business model. Within the last year at this agency, they’d turned over about 50% of their entire staff of 50. But someone’s done the math and worked out it’s cheaper to recruit and train new staff, then work them like dogs until they quit than it is to treat staff well and retain them.
This is the company I gave my heart and soul to. Where not two months before I’d worked (and billed) 40 hours in a 48 hour period. Where getting two days off on a weekend was an exception. Where you’d sit down at 9pm and get up at 10pm with no breaks except to take a shit and eat a sandwich. There was too much to do. Multiple briefs from multiple accounts with ridiculous timelines and matching deadlines. Your heart rate is constantly elevated from the stress. You can’t think clearly. Coming up with good concepts takes twice as long, and you’ve only got half the time. It’s closer to air-traffic control than creative.
I’m happy to be out of there, and like other people are saying on this thread, I don’t know if I want to be in adland anymore. It seems pretty stupid to do that to yourself. I don’t believe that running a great creative agency and creating a great place to work are mutually exclusive. Of what benefit is it to a business to have a burned-out workforce, with a high turnover of staff? Why, if your stock in trade is a creative product, wouldn’t you want to create the optimum environment for people to be creative in? Why is it seen as weak to want a work-life balance? Why is it acceptable for ECDs to shrug and say ‘that’s just the job’?
I’m sick of sucking it up. I want to go home and see my family.
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Well said.
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The business model most places currently employ isn’t one that aligns itself with sustainable careers. I briefly touched on this a year ago…
http://dingosbreakfast.wordpre.....-industry/
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There are some great agencies out there that value their staff. At the same time the industry faces numerous issues including this one that are clearly wrong and there are so many agencies with toxic environments that are in urgent need of enormous change.
Open discrimination against junior and experienced people, bullying, blatant sexism, underpaying people and everything we see in the above comments and more. Every time one of these issues bubbles to the surface, there are a huge number of comments. There are also many more people again who don’t speak up at all.
People live in fear that if they don’t comply and suck it up, they will lose their jobs in a bloody tough job market. Each of these agencies has got you exactly where they want you. Bodies such as the Communications Council simply don’t want to talk about the many elephants in the room.
The discussions are buried in threads such as this one and after a while the comments die down and sadly absolutely nothing changes. After more than 20 years I have seen so many great people leave a profession they used to enjoy and a steady stream of hopefuls step forward to replace them for what they believe will be great career. It simply just not sustainable at all.
When will the industry step up and make the changes to save itself?
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I’m mostly interested to know why nobody, especially those who have had to move on like Natalie, refuse to name and shame the agencies you are all talking about.
Why not actually use the anonymity this thread/site gives us and call these companies out on their under-resourced/overworked practices?
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Obviously this is an all too common story as shared here in the overwhelming, and supportive response in this discussion. Work ethic is one thing, but driving yourself to sickness is another. It’s our own personal responsibility, as well as that of our co workers and employers, to ensure the job gets done as best it can, but not at risk of one’s own well being. No amount of money, no big account, no client or industry kudos can replace that.
Well done Nat on a well composed and timely piece – I think Mita’s death & your own health journey has helped highlight a serious issue in not only the ad industry, but in the general workforce in this day & age.
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How to make work life balance better? Maybe start with good agency management of clients expectations, and not saying YES to everything.
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@Alison F, Given the content of the comments we can only assume that naming and shaming may have already happened but I don’t know that Mumbrella would publish the agency names…anonymous or not.
True Mumbrella?
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It was funny because I was reading an almost identical article over on the Fox Sports web site about a world class surfer complaining about the long hours she worked, same thing at The Australian with a politician whinging that he had to work weekends and then on some author’s blog who wanted better conditions as she had to write her books at night after she had worked all day plus having to make dinner for her family. Seriously though, suck it up adland industry people. If you want to be good at something in most cases it take the extra work and effort to be better than all the other people who are doing it. That’s just the reality of our industry. It is competitive and yes high stress but most of us get relatively well paid, to be doing or around a creative output and get to do so in fancy offices with no physical labour or sweat involved.
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I have worked in advertising for over 20 years and I love it even more than I did on day one. With one big caveat.
My allegiance has always been to ideas, craft, learning new things and the work. Everything else, I just shut out.
I don’t get taken in by any smooth talk that agency heads/ECDs spin about happiness, teamwork and the department they are trying to build. I’ve heard that shit a milion times and it’s just bar talk.
There was a ten year stretch when I worked pretty much like how overworked people describe….from 9am often till 3am the next morning, a few hours sleep and then back again. Weekends were almost similar although you could come in late since no one from management would be around to keep an eye on you.
I never saw this as an injustice or oppression…I just took it to be the idiosyncracies of a unique industry that lets me do something new everyday. There was also a lot of socialising, drinking and ummm….well, let’s leave it at that.
I think I am lucky to have a strong constitution since I have never ever been sick or missed work. In 20 years or so, I have taken maybe 7 days in sick leave.
The one reason why I’ve never felt expoited at work is simple. I have always made sure I get paid what I feel I’m worth. If I know I’m being lowballed, I walk. Some agencies will try to seduce you with promises of a bonus (which, legally speaking, is purely on their discretion). I have told them I don’t want one, just my salary will be fine.
So my philosophy, in a nutshell, has always been…if you want to fuck me up the ass, you will have to pay for the pleasure. This has never let me down (and my ass feels just fine even after a few attempts were made).
I feel really bad for today’s agency creatives. They are, more likely than not, in their mid-twenties with about 3-4 years’ experience. Most have not got good books because they work for ecds who don’t really have the time or aptitude to teach them the tricks of the trade.
They are paid a pittance, made to work like dogs and in Asia they have to put up with the biggest con of all. Most of the time they are forced to come up with scam ads. This is what really keeps them up, not the client’s work. It is a pecking order that starts with the global cco who shits on the regional cco who shits on the local cco who makes all these kids slave to come up with scam ads that will earn points in cannes that will count towards network of the year. All offices have a points quota, if it isn’t met, the ecd could lose her job. This is the single largest factor that creates this sweatshop mentality in asia….it is huge in indonesia, malaysia, singapore etc.
My advice to all such creatives is as follows:
1. Take care of your bodies and minds. Don’t believe what you see on mad men, those guys had 3 months to do a campaign. When you’re pushing your body, ease up on the vodka red bull. Or even just the red bull.
2. Make sure you get paid fairly. If more of you refuse the job, agencies will have to reconsider.
3. Try to make yourself a better ad person by doing real work. Nobody gives a fuck about how many awards you win. The only one who cares is your ecd who is using your blood and sweat to get a regional cco gig. Once you are not needed, you are history.
4. Staying late is no achievement….don’t fuck around on facebook all day and start work at 6pm….get cracking the moment you’re in and leave by 7pm latest.
5. And most important of all: remember that this is not showbiz and you are not a rock star. This is a business, so start thinking like a business person should.
PS. Sorry if I’m rambling.
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Pertinent: http://digiday.com/agencies/th.....ncy-hours/
Turns out there’s little evidence longer hours is leading to better work.
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Ms Cutliffe, your creative élan isn’t the source of crisis. At fault is employers’ exploitation of your skills & energies. Our I.H.&S.regulation has failed to protect you. Be happy. xJM
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You’re extremely brave for finally coming out with this. So many hundreds of thousands across the world will be able to relate to this. At the end of the day, we are making the fat cats fatter, simultaneously destroying our mental and physical health, relationships, and family. It’s really not worth it at all, and sounds like a lifestyle full of latter regret.
Amazing that you now see this. Just be sure you don’t step into an industry like this again. The occasional pat on the back from a boss is meaningless compared to being a sound, grounded, and content human being. 🙂
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Well said @Daz
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@ Tom Donald. Great article. Have a read everyone….its a wake-up call.
BUT what in the hell is everyone going to do about the issue? This thread will run out of puff eventually. With such an immense problem talking about it may vent the spleen for a while but by leaving it at just talking changes absolutely nothing!
Do you simply go back to enduring it all over again until someone else becomes sick or dies and then it becomes topical again? Or does the industry stand up and stand for something for a change that brings actually about change?!!
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i’m failing to see the link between the stress of work and someone’s bloodwork
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@Meh, let’s be clear, like Mita, I have never complained about the hours I have invested in progressing my career. Despite at times despicably low pay I value every lesson I’ve learnt along the way, and look forward to a healthy rewarding future.
@Bill Randall I am also lucky to have a strong constitution. I’ve come up with some of my best ideas while running 7kms 3-4 times a week and even came third in the Wiseman’s Ferry Fun Run for the Diggers this year. I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss your anal sex practices on such a public forum but I do appreciate your strong words.
@ Anita Worsley I’m thoroughly enjoying Meg Ryan’s performance in Joe and the Volcano… I’m going to go get back to it… thanks!
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Cheers to Bill Randall. The best perspective I’ve read. Not rambling Bill, just making good sense
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@confused try Wikipedia, it works for me 🙂
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Just finished reading your article. I am so proud of you and how much support you’re receiving from others in the industry is amazing.
You are so much better off being happy and healthy in what you do and I have always known how very special and talented you are.
So you go bubba and may 2014 hold everything you wish for.
xx
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Yeah Wikipedia does mention extreme stress
influencing disease and health. I just wonder
(And I’m referencing my own health here, not
yours or your poor partner’s), does the other lifestyle
factors of the hardworking urban existence (in my
case: cigs, pills, coke and booze) have something
to do with the ill-health we so often blame our
work on?? I get you probably don’t do these things;
being a runner etc, but I know in my life, I had
to take a good look in the mirror before I blamed
my high paying job for all the ills in my world.
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Worked to death. Simply isn’t worth it. I *might* choose to do a job that would end up giving me a chronic illness ….my health could be sacrificied – but not for the wages the advertising industry pays. If I’m going to be sick for the rest of my life I want compensation that is frankly obscenely generous.
Advice to the young out there. Yes it’s a tough employment marker. No, it’s not so tough you won’t find a job paying more than advertising that won’t kill you. Its that simple starters.
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@confused like my idol Chelsea Handler (and a lot of other very good writers for that matter) I do indeed like to drink. So you can imagine my surprise when I found my liver and kidney results were both completely perfect on both accounts… ha!
Despite admitting the less healthy aspects of my lifestyle to my doctor his diagnosis was stress.
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The first piece of advice I have always given staff who report to me is that they should not be working regular overtime. If they do, it means they are either inefficient or being given more work than they can handle. In either case, it’s not good and needs to be addressed.
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Bill Randall made some excellent points. Of all the posts on this blog, his made sense without grumbling. It’s great coming up with ideas. Its even better when you get paid properly for the privilege. Other important things to remember: eat properly, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, brush your teeth, find some love in your life and try to laugh once a day.
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@Bill Randall
An excellent analysis why the cycle of doom will never break because the rot starts and stops at the top, in New York and Paris.
The current business model is based on a chain of broken promises made by the top to the level below.
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My advice make sure u don’t have any debt. Leave on time and don’t give a shit. Enjoy life. If you are good at what you do, you will always find a new home.
Freelance at a few places if you can, that way you can suss out a good environment and let them know that you are interested. Worked for me and could not be happy.
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I’ve found that when excessively long hours are called for it usually means there has been a failure in the process.
The brief is deeply flawed; or hasn’t been taken effectively; or the agency management have understaffed and over promised. Sure, it may mean that the team – creative or production – are not up to the task too. That’s not referring to this story, but in general. But without doubt there is a ‘process failure’ and somebody needs to take responsibility for it. That somebody could be the client, or agency management. That’s where the buck stops.
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What if the creatives just aren’t good enough and they know it? Going home early hardly sounds like a solution…
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It’s fuckwits that can’t make a decision, delegate or give responsibility (real responsibility, not just titles) to their staff that causes burnout. Rarely are you working at pace past midnight, it’s the hanging around waiting for people to pontificate and get nothing done that makes you sick. Working on great briefs that are fun and feel like they’re getting somewhere don’t cause burnout at all, the adrenalin is the biggest rush you’ll ever feel.
The things agencies hate most about clients are done to their staff on a daily basis.
If you’re a leader, be consistent, have a strong opinion, be honest, be kind, don’t wishy wash, don’t make decisions by committee and whatever you do, if the work is boring, don’t spend all night trying to second guess everyone and get it right… Just get it out.
And for the exciting jobs worth going nuts on, go nuts.
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From what I’ve read here, everyone who thinks people should work long hours for no extra reward and should be great full for it are CEO/Partners and Managers of Agencies/Businesses, the people who are complaining are the workers.
The industry has a high productivity workforce that’s been that way since the start of the eighties, problem is everyone is now getting jack of it (and it’s not just this industry where this is happening). The mantra from the old guard that now run or are partners in agencies that ‘I DID IT SO SHOULD YOU!’ wears thin nowadays.
I’m glad to read a lot of posts here saying that people will not put up with it any longer, and so they shouldn’t.
I know a lot of people in Finance\Telecommunication\Entertainment that work 0900-1600/1700, get paid six figure salaries and are astonished at the hours we put in, and to mention you need to work a weekend……..
Productivity starts dropping sharply after 8pm so working long hours and stressing workers out is not conducive to great work.
No wonder 95% Australian advertising, especially Television is rubbish.
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Good story and hopefully you are on the mend.
Sadly we work in the advertising industry and therefore too many of us are suckers fro our own stories.
The consumeriism that we tend to support forces us to believe in it and we end up working those stupid hours and pushing the rest of our lives aside to make sure that we create the perfect line of copy for that new shampoo or car.
If you havent already, its time to stop!…look around, We are selling products and services, not saving the world, curing cancer or developing the end to climate change.
you don’t need the new car, the new piece of trendy furniture or 15 cocktails at the trendy joint next Saturday night
Dont live to work…..Work to live!
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It’s not just the agencies that seem to have this approach, its the media side as well. Whilst those hours are not the status quo, it is increasingly expected. After resigning from a big media company, my boss found that the perfect moment to yell, yes yell, “you are a clock watcher and it is unacceptable”. Never once raised before. My work hadn’t ever been complained about. All deadlines were met and yes many internal company awards won, along with the very happy agencies I used to deal with. Just because I wanted to reach my child before the after school care closed, it was insinuated that I had no commitment. Because I wasn’t leaving at 7pm like my boss, I was treated like a lepar. Yet, when I was employed with outstanding references, they knew that leaving on time to then battle the 1.5hr commute, to pick up a child was just part of my deal and it was accepted. that is until i truly had settled in. leaving on time didn’t stunt my creativity, in fact that long commute gave me distraction free time to conceptualise some great stuff and I always worked on ideas after dinner. When I got to work, I worked my butt off, funny really because it was my boss who would spend so much time on the net researching her travel endeavours or renovation strategies. So etching no one else did. If this industry wants to create an innovative revolution, it needs to embrace a work/life balance, create real family friendly environments and watch the creativity flow!
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Try working in Events guys.
You guys make ads – it’s great work, but we event guys work the same hours, all the while making sure people are safe and don’t kill themselves or things don’t fall on their head.
And we have the same client demands and lack of timelines.
Try that for stress.
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WOW Natalie, nice one. You’ve managed to really articulately (without anger and hate) describe the horrible industry that advertising can be at its worst. Credit to you for maintaining your decorum and credit to you for embracing your best self in this aftermath.
I think people forget that it’s really easy to say that agencies should treat their staff better and you shouldn’t put up with that – when you’re ín it’ it’s very hard to see your way out of it.
Hopefully, there are some people ín it’ at the moment that will be able to see a little way out of it from reading your story.
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Thanks for sharing in what must be a difficult time for you.
I wanted to share my experience and how I managed to lead what everyone else has, a normal loife outside of work.
I must admit that I have suffered similar ‘issues’ haivng come agency and then being completely absorbed by an incrediably busy client side role. Believe me, the grass is not always greener, large corporates will take advantage of you if you allow them to.
After working ridiculous hours for about 2 years on the client side (post jumping the fence from a creative agency), I realised I was breaking myself. All the health issues you raise above where concerning me too.
Lucky for me, I had a new boss join the team and I took that opportunity to both change my habits and express what I wanted. So in my first meeting with him, I said:
“You’ve got me between the hours of 8am and 6pm. Outside of those hours, I really do not wish to be contacted.”
It worked. He took it well and has pretty much maintained that status quo ever since. Try it, you might be suprised with the result as the boundaries have been clearly drawn. Communication s paramount.
The hard part is figuring out what to do with all that extra time because working massive hours for so long becomes a habit. Having those hours back in your day, well, you won’t know what to do with yourself for months!
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