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"[FAANG] jobs tend to be quite demanding and require developers to put in a lot of extra hours when compared to smaller businesses."

They're more demanding to _get_, I wouldn't say they're more demanding to do. At a FAANG there's also more scope for intra-company hops too. People frequently switch teams immediately after getting promoted.

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FAANG jobs attract the type of people with work ethic and ambition but they most likely feel like a well paid cog in the machine, that probably explains why they ditch after 2 years.

FAANG jobs stack rank you against people working 60+ hours a week who are desperate to keep their visas. You might not be technically required to work those long hours, but if you want to keep your job, you have to, unless you're an absolute rock star. It's not "work ethic" driving those long hours. It's fear.

The hyper-capitalist notion that anyone who only wants to work 40 hours a week lacks work ethic is perverse. Jeff Bezos, for example, is proud of his Original Thought that there is "no such thing as work-life balance".

People desperate to keep their visa is not a FAANG specific problem. There are plenty of people coasting in unicorn companies and much more that just have a normal WLB. Some organizations might be the cut throats you are painting but don't generalize.

Also, Amazon != all FAANG.

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