There may be so many situations that it’s hard to generalize, so I’ll mention a couple of specific situations I’ve run in to over the years…

Working for a huge company where the attitude from the top is, “you’re replaceable, all we notice is how long you’re here.” Well, if I’m treated as poorly as a factory worker in terms of respect for my craft and ability I expect to get treated at least as well as a factory worker in terms of getting paid an hour’s pay for an hour’s work. One day 100s of us were told our jobs were going to an Indian outsourcing firm The folks laid off included some very hard-working, smart programmers (not sour grapes – I was one of the few survivors).

Working for a startup with little cash. I worked for several weeks without pay (eventually paid back after a couple of years) and, when I left, gave up 60,000 valueless options.

The “factory” job paid much more than the startup. The startup was the best work experience of my life.

Guess who I worked longer *and* smarter for? Guess which company was more likely to see me in the wee hours of the morning? Hint: it wasn’t the factory.

I guarantee you’ve heard of the factory, but would bet money you’ve never heard of the startup (which still chugs along as a consulting firm after the attempt to become a software bonanza firm failed).

I’d rather work hard for little but have my reward tied to the company’s success than work long hours for much money but only stay employed at the whim of an accountant 100s of miles away.

I’d be interested to know what people here think about the discussion “So what’s better – a great job with average pay or a sucky job with fantastic pay?” at “Wise Bread” (www.wisebread.com).

I agree that at some point a company is “using” their employees, but I disagree that point is “more than 40 hours”. When the employee feels like work is cutting into personal time – when the employee feels their effectiveness going down due to long hours – when a job you used to enjoy becomes a miserable task you dread waking up to every morning – then maybe you are working too many hours. That’s going to be a different number of hours for every employee. Unless the employer is the one demanding the employee work said hours, no exploitation is happening.

Though I disagree, I think this is an interesting discussion and I respect your point of view. I have less experience in this field so maybe I’m just “one of the lucky ones”.

Employers will take as much as they’re allowed to take. Over the course of a year the work week should average about 40 hours – any more and the employee is being used. Take a salary of $100,000/year for a 50 week work-year. With a 40 hour work week, that’s $50/hour. Work a 50-hour week and you lose $10 per hour.

Given that we’re actually less effective the longer we work, that may be fair

People *do* need to work smarter, not longer. They also need to train their employers to respect them. Giving work away by accepting an infinite work week is just training them to use you.

(Note that if you’re actually getting equity, e.g., in a startup situation, it’s a completely different story: you’re investing via your labor, not just exchanging work for pay.)

(Note also that I said “average” 40 hours/week – their are always crunch times, but they should be infrequent and comped.)

http://blog.cmyers.org/?p=9

You draw an awful lot of conclusions about working for Google/Microsoft – how many months have you worked there? How many people who worked there have you talked to? Do many of your friends work there?

The red pill for developers.

My favorite part: “It’s a class war between the people who know how to get something done and the people who are slowly realizing they play no more role in modern development.

Wait, what time is it? 3:30? I’m going home