Welcome to a world of sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and money. It’s the setting for Industry and its poisonous fictional enterprise, Pierpoint & Co, a London investment bank based in a glass tower. It’s a toxic hothouse, a fiercely competitive open-office labyrinth rife with harassment and bullying.

And what goes on there reveals some of the complexities and pressures of the modern workplace, the eight-part drama (Foxtel on Demand and Binge) offering a dark view of how to succeed in business.

Into the Pierpoint hurly-burly is thrown a posse of ambitious college graduates. They’re a diverse bunch, all keen to get ahead at the company, and they’re facing a deadline. At the end of a trial period, in a Hunger Games-style event called Rif (Reduction in Force), the “grads” are required to showcase their contributions and demonstrate their value. Some will be selected for permanent positions, others will be shown the door.

Among the grads is Harper (Myha’la Herrold), an American woman of colour who has concealed information about her past, including the fact that she doesn’t come from one of the colleges regarded as a desirable recruiting ground. There’s also affluent, multi-lingual Arab-English Yasmin (Marisa Abela) and party boy Robert (Harry Lawtey). They’re joined by smoothly assured gay man Gus (David Jonsson) and Hari (Nabhaan Rizwan), a loner who’s driving himself hard to get ahead of the pack.

Through the experiences of the grads comes an insight into the way that Pierpoint operates. Each of them is assigned to a desk and answerable to a desk chief. For Harper, it’s volatile baseball-bat-wielding Chinese-American Eric (Ken Leung). He recognises her drive and potential, and can act like a mentor. But he can also turn vicious in a heartbeat and he refuses to recognise boundaries – which he regards as an asset. Also on their desk is Daria (Freya Mavor), who coolly appraises Harper from her perch and gradually reveals herself as a possible ally, although no one here can be trusted.

Yasmin answers to gormless Kenny (Conor MacNeill), who treats her like the lunch girl, curses her over incorrect salad delivery and clumsily attempts to mask his attraction to her with “Oh, it’s just a joke” hostility.

Robert’s boss is Clement (Derek Riddell), an old-school elder who wears tailored double-breasted suits and is a source of amusement to the grads because he still reads a hard-copy paper when he’s not dozing at his desk.

Created for HBO and the BBC by Oxford graduates and former bankers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the series builds an environment that is cutthroat, abusive and profane. Those who have permanent positions – and permanency is a dicey proposition at Pierpoint – are mostly contemptuous of the newbies.