There's one argument left that never fails

'Great news, team,' I say at our Monday morning meeting, 'the bank wants us all to take extra time off this year.' Nobody smiles. Those members of my team who survived the redundancies are not silly. They know very well that there is no silver lining in banking that is not attached to a large dark cloud.

'It's completely voluntary,' I continue, 'so it's up to you to decide whether or not you would like to have the extra time off, but you should appreciate that this is unpaid leave, not normal annual leave.'

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