Not only will they not make it for long, but they're actually devaluing their own work. You're paid a salary for a standard work week. If you're working nights and weekends, you're giving away that portion of your work for free. I learned and appreciated this fact too late in my career.
IMO a business that can only function/succeed if employees give away their time for free is not a viable business and probably just shouldn't exist. Don't Do Crunch Time.
the cost of constantly shifting attention to multitask made everything seem frantic and you never got the sense to appreciate that a thing was 'done' because there was always ten other things cooking in the background.
you'll be surprised how much this doesn't kill your overall productivity while also preserving mental health. slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
The difference between a Grind and Hopeless.
I've been coding for 25 years in many jobs & many industries (although banking featured a bit tooooo much). Our industry is volatile, and right now it feels like a 'micro' repeat of the dotcom bust, where even the very good devs are increasingly under an unreasonable amount of pressure (financially, finding work, or otherwise).
Agree - life outside work is v. important, but I think it's equally important to work in an industry which aligns with one's values, rather than just for the money etc. At the end of the day, every role will be difficult at times, but if you're behind the potential impact of the company, then that makes the challenge more tolerable
(*cough* ~Don't be evil~ *cough* sigh)
I do think there are different types of "work" though, and the worse programming jobs have some of the worst combinations of attributes - inherently pointless but require intense mental effort.
Who cares? At this stage in my life (and a distant second my career too), if that's the kind of attitude your work demands of you, there's plenty of other validating things to do that also provide a living. And I always hear that people don't quit their jobs, they quit their bosses. But yeah, I would never fire someone for setting appropriate life/work boundaries and sticking to them.
I realize not everyone is so fortunate. I had to start at some not so great companies in my career, but over time if you’re picky enough, you can find a great employer. I encourage everyone to know their worth. Don’t settle.