( CNN ) -- The tragic death of Moritz Erhardt , a 21-year-old intern at Bank of America Merrill Lynch , has cast a spotlight on the extreme work culture in the financial industry . The hours that Erhardt had been working are not unusual . Many finance professionals often work into the wee hours of the morning . Their weekends are spent recovering from grueling workweeks . Their holidays are spent constantly checking in with the office . The result is that work begins to take up nearly every waking hour . There is little time left for life . The extreme work culture used to be the preserve of a few elite professions , such as banking or law . Now it seems to be spreading . Employees in many jobs are being asked to make themselves constantly available . Partly , it 's because new technologies allow people to be connected and reachable at all times . But it comes at a huge cost . There is a significant body of research that shows long working hours have negative physical and psychological effects on people . A recent study by professor Alexandra Michel tracked investment bankers over a nine-year period . These bankers would routinely work from early morning to well past midnight . To cope with these hours , many became gym junkies , taking to the treadmill after midnight for an hourlong run . However , after about seven years of this relentless grind , the bankers began to suffer serious psychological and physical breakdowns . In addition to damaging the body and mind , long hours at work cut people off from their family and friends . People who spend most of their waking hours at work or dealing with work-related activities have little time to build and nurture relationships outside of work . Their intimate relationships with family can become strained . Their friendships can become weak . If something goes wrong , they may feel isolated and helpless because they lack a healthy ecosystem for emotional support . The result is that their social network withers and , over time , can die . Extreme hours have been proven to be unhealthy for workers . They are also bad for communities . If days are spent only working , then there is little time to put into local clubs , faith groups and associations . Harvard professor Robert Putnam has pointed out that the long working hour culture has led to a stunning decline in the numbers of people who are members of clubs and associations . It has effectively weakened the fabric of our communities . People are increasingly cut off , to the extent that it 's common not to know your neighbors or anyone in your neighborhood . What is perhaps most surprising is that long hours are not even good for companies . The most productive countries among the developed economies often have the shortest work hours . Employees in Germany and France work less hours but get more done . Their British counterparts spend much longer at work but produce far less . Not only that , when people are tired from long hours , they tend to make more irrational and risky decisions . A recent study by the Swedish sociologist Roland Paulsen has shown that long hours at work also lead to the prevalence of unproductive `` empty work '' such as checking Facebook , watching YouTube videos or even undertaking personal projects at the office . It 's possible that these are ways for employees to show resistance . There are so many good reasons to end the extreme work culture . But how can it be done ? A first step is for companies to introduce policies and practices that stop employees from working through the night . These might include having work-life balance programs , or closing the doors to the office at a reasonable hour or banning e-mail traffic after a particular time at night . As important as these top-down changes are , employees need to instigate bottom-up changes . These require us to avoid modeling and encouraging the practice of working long hours among new recruits . We have to make it acceptable to say `` no '' to an extreme work culture . Remember , we work to live , not live to work . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andre Spicer .
Andre ##sen : Intern 's death casts doubt on extreme work culture in finance industry . Research shows that long work hours have negative effects on people , he says . He says extreme hours are bad for employees , for communities and even for families . Spicer : The most productive countries often have the shortest work hours .