BCG consultant says she worked 70-hour weeks, once went 20 hours without a break

A former Boston Consulting Group (BCG) employee has confirmed a widely acknowledged reality of the consulting world—long hours are the norm. Kelly He Sun, who spent six years at BCG, one of the world’s most selective consulting firms with an acceptance rate lower than Harvard and MIT, revealed in a podcast with Gary Guo that she regularly worked 55 to 70 hours a week.

At her busiest, Kelly once worked 20 hours straight without a break. Her candid admission has reignited the debate over what constitutes an acceptable workload for employees.

On long working hours

New York-based Kelly, who was with BCG till 2024, revealed that she usually worked from 8 am till 9 pm. Mondays to Wednesdays were the busiest days of the week for her, but even on a Thursday, she worked till 9 pm at least.

According to Kelly, while juniors may afford to start their day at 8.30 am or 9 am, managers often begin earlier. She revealed that the typical day for a manager at BCG might begin at 7.30 am. They would generally work from the office till 6 or 7 pm, make time for a quick work-out and dinner, before logging in again at home.

These managers would then work again from 9 pm to 12 midnight.

On her longest shift

Kelly was asked what is the longest she worked at a stretch without a break at BCG. “6 am to 2 am,” she revealed. That is a staggering 20-hour shift.

Asked what was so important that she could not afford to log off, Kelly explained that she was working on a due diligence case where one must get a lot done in a short period of time. “I was on a due diligence case. Anyone who has ever worked in management consulting would understand you have to get a lot done in such a short amount of time. Every single day you’re supposed to make miles of progress,” she recalled.

Did she at least manage to get some rest after her mammoth shift? That would be a no.

Kelly revealed that after working 20 hours one day, she still had to work the next day. The whole week, in fact, she ran on adrenaline. She confessed that by Friday, she was “depleted.”

The reactions

A video of the exchange has gone viral on Instagram, where many people opened up about their own experience of working long hours.

“Worked at Deloitte Consulting for 4 years. I would regularly work from 8am to midnight. Looking back, it's not a flex, it's awful,” wrote one Instagram user.

“Life is too short to endure such bad work/life balance. Find another place to work. And believe me the alternative is much better,” another opined.

The issue of long working hours has been in the news in India for the last few years, as many industry leaders have faced flak for expecting employees to put in 70-hour weeks.

(Also read: ‘How long can you stare at your wife?’: L&T chairman says he wants employees to work on Sunday too)