I read your news story ‘Clifford Chance starts “psychological resilience” scheme’ (7 April). Why is the response to pressure to toughen up the individual rather than to reduce the pressure? Human beings are fragile, and while work is good for you, overexposure to pressurised, challenging situations is inherently harmful.
Once I moved outside the City bubble, I found a world populated by damaged City cast-offs. Like the poor, they are unseen from the glass towers of Canary Wharf (what’s the difference between a Victorian mill and a modern law firm? Answer: 90°).
Now I work in family law and encounter the sons and daughters of those who were ‘tough enough to stay the course’, as well as some of the ‘fallen’ themselves and their spouses. I see the unhappiness that pressurised work environments created. I doubt the City can ever become a diverse working environment when it offers life-enhancing careers only to the fit, strong and endurance-reinforced.
And yes, I know Clifford Chance’s profits have dropped 9% to a mere £387m this year, but come on CC – show some real leadership, get together with your competitors and agree to turn down the pressure.
Sue Nelson, solicitor and family mediator; Law Society Council member, City of Westminster
