I’ve been both and can tell you with assurance that in my experience in a 35+ year career that management is not easier, you don’t make as much per hour worked, and as an exempt employee…you generally have much less legal job protections as compared to hourly employees.

I bet I haven’t worked less than a 55 hour week in the last 20 years except for weeks where I was on vacation. Those lovely weeks of vacation—-probably 20 on average.