Some time before HFT was as popular, I worked at a Wall St. trading firm (though in the back office clearance and settlement area). The devs who supported the traders had some wild "high stress" stories; it was pretty routine and commonplace for them to be screamed at nonstop by multiple traders during the entire trading day, then everyone would go out for drinks/dinner afterwards. Daily.

There was a paramedic on the trading floor. At least once a trader had a heart attack and the other traders were just casually stepping over him post-collapse, because... paramedic on the trading floor.

It was my first job post-college; in the first or second week I was there, a company wide email went out that stated the policy for in-office birthday parties was being changed in that strippers would no longer be reimbursed. Out of office it was still ok.

Anyone interested in those times should read "Liar's Poker"; it's a good overview, at least from what I remember, since where I worked was that same firm.

Those days are long gone. Technologists are highly respected now. Also the backgrounds of traders have changed slowly. More cerebral, less jocky. So the cultural and pay gap has reduced