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Comment by Ansil849 | Hacker News Reader

The problem with 'disconnecting' is that you run the very real risk of being fired and replaced by someone who disconnects less than you. Don't want to pickup your phone after hours at 11pm on a Friday? OK, that's your choice, but it can come with consequences such as being reprimanded, being passed over for promotions or bonuses, being treated poorly, or outright being fired. Unless your skillset and value-adds are truly unique and both indispensable and irreplaceable (not true for 99.99% of us), disconnecting is not an option for those of us who can't afford to lose a job.

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You're being downvoted, but the reality is for a lot of workers the time that's passed since the pandemic started hasn't felt like working from home, it's felt like living at work, and this is especially true for workers who live in towns that don't have a lot of tech companies. It's hard to stand your ground when there's only one tech company in town, or you're a young engineer who doesn't want their resume to show they left their first job out of college less than a year after they were hired.

Simply being dependable and competent makes you a pain to replace.

Don’t underestimate the slack the average worker has before being fired. Changes are you will be let go at some point based on stuff that has nothing to do with your personal competence at which point all that extra effort you put in being a stellar employee was largely pointless.

Getting a promotion sounds great, but jumping from company to company is generally the better option at which point you have again lost any befits from picking up the phone at 11pm on a Friday.

Being fired is the extreme end result. The immediate results I've faced are the other things I've outlined: not having as high a review score, not receiving a promotion, and just generally being treated poorly/less-friendly by managers. Basically 'disconnecting' leads to a hostile work environment. in my experience.

Sure, but all of which goes away the instant you land your next job.

I don't follow, it seems like unless you luck into finding a job where everyone in your management chain adheres to the same 'disconnect' work ethic, this is a pattern that will instead repeat over and over.

Having a pattern repeat is only a problem if it has some inherent downside. Let’s assume every review over your career is acceptable vs outstanding, but you also get paid more money. Isn’t that a better situation?

If you and your boss have a slightly worse relationship but you’re personally happier then again that seems like a net positive.

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