Bob: he comes in, he does his work, he goes home. He's a good productive developer.
Jane: She comes in, does her work, it's always documented and well tested. She is happy to roll up her sleeves and help the people around her out. She will pause to help you even if it means she gonna finish up at home.
Your boss asks you: Your call who do we hire. You're not fucking picking Bob.
Dont be Bob.
While I would agree with a softer form: "don't be a 9 to 5 clerk, do what is needed, including occasional long hours and weekends", if someone needs to regularly stay late it's a problem with the management, not with the Bob. My 2c.
Yes, this is why people start their own companies, and cash out.
>> Where do you draw the line in not being exploitable though?
Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I shit on company time... as the old adage goes.
The reality is that giving you a job only works if the company makes money off of what you do. If it lost money or broke even that would not be worth it. You're always being "exploited".
If you want to feel equal, there are plenty of companies that are collectives (mondragon look it up). I have a few projects going on right now that are structured like this. If one of them "takes off" it's a very even distribution for all involved as long as they are working there.
The beauty of capitalism is that if you hate how companies are run you can and should go run your own with the rules you want. If it was very equal, then everyone is incentives to go above and beyond... your still not gonna hire bob!
The balance is in being both: good, productive, amicable, helpful to others while also knowing that you deserve a life outside of work.
This infatuation with killing yourselves for work (mostly Americans but also in Brazil and some other cultures) have is really not healthy, to yourself and to other workers that you put under pressure because you do more than what you're paid for. You're not being a great employee, you're being an exploited employee, and leaving the door open to normalise this exploitation to others that might have other priorities after working hours.
From my time with leading teams I wouldn't hire Jane, I have done it before and eventually the team falls apart because others feel pressured to work more than they are being paid for/willing simply to keep up with the Janes of the world, it crumbles team morale.
Don't be Jane.
It's just something we pretend cannot happen in software.
Most industries don't want anything like software's "death march," "sleep under your desks," "eat pizza" cultural ideals. Well, pizza is maybe ok once in a while.
Who's going to burn out, Bob or Jane? Bosses, often completely untrained bosses who just "know" how to boss, say they want Jane, but they're probably better off with Bob. Assuming they want stable long-term businesses, of course.
In your scenario it's likely that Jane becomes a boss soon and hires people with her own "work ethic." That sucks. Don't get Janed!
Jane works hard but puts in long hours because she's just not very good and has to hustle to keep up even on basic tasks. She's helpful and kind to others because she understands their struggles, but can't hack new tech as well and will ultimately pause to help. Her well documented, working code takes 3+ weeks longer, and no one cares about Documentation.
For some it might be free work for their employer in return for something. Example might be in financial trading etc. to get a bonus or raise or promotion in a shop that is killing it.
For some it might be leetcode and reading everything on levels.io and teamblind.
For some it might be active investing for example property renovation.
For some a side business.
For some TOGAF and Scrum qualifications.
But remember 1000hours a year is a lot to bet on your company or colleagues vouching for you and being in a position where that matters.
Etc.
Yeah, at 50/hr that's $50,000 for a chance of someone vouching for you in the future that may never come to pass.
There's also the chance that maybe they were the manager that made you work 60hrs in the first place, so they don't see you as going above and beyond.
Whoopsie, you just wasted 1000 hours of your life.
No thanks. I'll get the job on my own merit.
Everyone has it hard during an economic downturn. Ugly people also have it harder, so do shorter and dumber people.
I don't find this exercise of comparing myself to others helpful. Despite having good feedback for my work, it doesn't really grow my network.
> who I would be happy to recommend or hire on the spot.
Yeah, assuming you don't have any biases and are a perfect judge of who's doing a good job. That's omegacap as the young kids say.