Precisely. Work in a boiler room, or hike sacks of grain 20 miles on your back, or work in low end food service, or go scrub toilets 60 hours per week, then come back and say software developers are working harder then 95% of other workers.
80+ hours per week? Are you joking? Most startups aren't 9 to 5, but please name a single startup where you believe employees regularly put in 80 hour-plus weeks.
Even in professions like law and investment banking, where employees do have to work grueling hours on a regular basis, the "80 hour work week" is largely a myth. I think medical residents are one of the few groups that really puts in these types of hours consistently.
Yes. And from what I've seen, the companies where developers regularly do put in stupid hours aren't doing it because it's effective. It's a sign of dysfunction. E.g., a competition to be seen as the toughest, or a manager who can't really evaluate productivity other than by counting butts in seats.
hah, don't get me wrong, I highly doubt anyone really "works" a 80 hour week. I personally work 35 given that I take an hour and half for the gym + lunch everyday. And out of that 35, I probably spend 10 reading HN, learning new tech, doing personal emails, and other not exactly job-related activities, so 25 I'd say total of real 'work'.
so I was probably exaggerating a bit, but I stand by my original comment that many of these overworked, underpaid startup employees lead absolutely miserable lives and work harder than 95% of people on the planet.
For reference, the US in general works more hours per week than any other industrial nation. Hunter gatherers worked only 15 hours/week. Most impoverished nations work very few hours per week. The only people who beat them out are sweat shops in Southeast asia
What?