Not me but a friend
Got a first out of a top-flight uni and was snapped up by a certain gigantic chinese-owned multinational bank for their hothouse fast-track graduate trainee thingy.

The pay was top-rate, but in exchange they wanted your soul. They told you how to dress, how to talk, even how to cut your hair (for a guy who came out of uni with a foot-high pink mowhawk that was a bit harsh for him in particular). You had to move house every 3 months as they moved you from location to location, you had no evenings, no weekends, and you had to attend painfully dull corporate functions at least twice a week.

Now this guy had been the Equal Opportunities officer for the student's union, a rock singer and a free spirit. So this didn't suit him much at all, unlike the wannabee yuppie drones around him. The final straw came at the after-dinner speech following the company's christmas ball, when the UK Chief Executive addressed the rising young stars of Megabank plc. His opening lines of his "motivational" speech were, and I quote:

"We made £9 billion last year. It's not enough."

At this point, a voice in my mate's head said "You, sir, are a cunt. I'm not working for you." As the CEO droned on about how they all need to squeeze even more bank charges from their luckless and often dirt-poor customers, and as the corporate drones lapped it up, he composed his resignation letter in his head.

He handed in his notice the next day.

Not the most motivational speech ever then. But next time you hear the banks bleating about how successful legal challenges to their bank charges will bleed them dry and force them to charge for bank accounts etc, remember that quote. I always do, and I no longer bank at the Highly Shit Banking Company.
(Axeman Jim, Sun 25 May 2008, 14:20, 3 replies)

motivation
I too quit a job as a result of a motivational speech, I had started as a manager for a famous chain of news agents and it was bloody hard work. One week i worked for 72 hours on split shifts and this was considered normal.
We went to the AGM and for a full day were told how crap we all were. I quit the next day
(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Sun 25 May 2008, 14:59, closed)

Sounds like a company I used to work at.
Having emigrated and wanting a slower pace of life. I was a little saddened to hear the following speech at a company meeting that they did every month.

"Ive got a problem. I've been having people coming up to me and telling me that they're feeling burnt out.... BURNT OUT!??? BURNT OUT!!!?? I DONT DRIVE MY FUCKING FERRARI FOR BEING BURNT OUT!! You carry on! That Burnt Out feeling is just temporary. If you carry on it goes away!"

This is a company that works it sales staff 16 hour days 7 days a week and jets them off all over the place too. When they're not working theyre getting high on coke and roll playing sales situations with each other.

A few months later, this speech:

"Ive been hearing this little word in my ears. What do you think that is?" sales monkey says "Christmas?" "YES CHRISTMAS!! Christmas?? IT DOESNT EXIST!!! Forget about this Christmas, ask yourself where you will be next Christmas!"

I'm sure he runs that one every year :)

Thankfully I wasn't working in Sales but soon got out of there :)
(Miggyman, Sun 25 May 2008, 15:14, closed)

Wow
Amazing that - a Bank that makes money - gee, who would have thought. I thought they donated everything to charity and their employees worked for free.

I suppose getting a 1st doesn't make you smart though does it.
(zit, Mon 26 May 2008, 3:39, closed)