Working in a Manhattan financial firm, you encounter all kinds of new employees. Analysts who come in early in suits and leave at 10 PM with tired faces, associate lawyers buried under piles of documents leaving the law firm when the lights go out, and developers coding late into the night while chugging energy drinks in downtown co-working spaces.

All three groups share a common belief: they think they are "building their careers while working 12 hours a day." The problem is, from the system that employs them, it hardly makes a difference.

First, the new lawyers. Especially those in big firms with 1-3 years of experience seem to have their lives completely mortgaged to civil litigation and due diligence. During the day, they attend meetings, make calls, and follow client meetings, and at night, they research contracts, find case law, and if they make even one mistake in a sentence, they get scolded by a partner via email. The work is "intellectual labor" and looks impressive, but in reality, it is a highly repetitive task of document work assigned by others.

Next are the new analyst hires at our financial firm. Those who endure in Manhattan for a long time deserve some credit for their tenacity. This role is not physically demanding, but it often takes a toll on mental health. They prepare briefings at 8 AM, present in front of the VP while being cautious, and during the day, they handle client calls, market reports, and model adjustments... Analysts live under the guise of "I move the world" but are essentially slide slaves. Still, these individuals are necessary for M&A deals to proceed, bond issuances to roll out, and pension funds to achieve returns.

New programmers working in IT companies or departments face a different kind of struggle. They generally have a sense of pride, believing, "This is creation; my code has philosophy." However, the company does not care about that. They only look at "Are there any bugs? Is it fast? Is there a rollback?" As a result, they spend 12 hours battling their monitors, endlessly repeating the question, "Why did it work yesterday but not today?" Especially in fintech, trading systems, and payment companies, developers are the true engines of the operational systems.

Now, let's return to the question: who is living a harder life? To be frank, all three are in the same "grinding position." The only difference is the type of suffering. New lawyers have a high hourly rate and maintain their dignity, but they lack control over their lives. New analysts endure the pressure of numbers and reports while holding onto the pride of "moving at the center of finance." New programmers create actual systems, yet often have the least decision-making power within the company.

This country runs on systems, and maintaining those systems relies on the stamina and mental strength of countless '12-hour workers.' Lawyers create structures with contracts, analysts calculate the flow of money, and programmers build the platforms that execute it. If any one of the three is missing, deals won't run smoothly, regulations get tangled, or systems come to a halt. So, it's not about who is superior; they are all grinding together to keep things moving.

Personally, I feel that the sense of "hardship" is most pronounced for analysts. This is because their mental state is directly tied to their work. If they make one mistake in a number, the report changes, and if that leads to an investment decision, it can throw off the mental state of their superiors. And that mental state trickles down to the interns and analysts below. Lawyers require long hours and meticulousness, but deadlines are structurally set. Developers, on the other hand, are not facing deadlines but are holding onto a "bomb that could explode at any time." If the server is running fine, everyone forgets about the developer, but if the server crashes, everyone looks for the developer.

Ultimately, from the perspective of a team leader like me writing this, what truly matters is not "who is suffering more" but "who can endure that 12-hour workday while also taking care of their own life."

Companies want to utilize all three of them for as long and as efficiently as possible. The American economy runs not because of a grand vision but because these new hires are trading their days for coffee, Excel sheets, contracts, and code. Even knowing this, when hiring, they say things like, "There's a lot to learn and many opportunities for growth." While that's not incorrect, they don't mention that this growth often comes with dark circles under the eyes, back pain, and relationship fatigue.

So, if you ask who is really keeping America running, I would answer this way.

"All three of you working 12 hours a day. And a little bit of us team leaders who grind you down too."

It's unpleasant, but that's the reality of Manhattan.