No more, I now find the whole idea nauseating.
I am not talking about running your own business, or working at a startup or other business entity where working more hours might get you a big payout. I ran two small software companies from the mid 80's to 90's and we did work a lot of hours; but all of us shared in whatever we made and in the second company worked under contract so the more we worked the more we got. But that's not the point of this post.
If I worked at some big technology company and agreed to some salary, my expectation is that I am being paid to do my best for a standard work week, which is generally considered (at least in the U.S.) to be 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. If they told me I have to work 70 hours a week, or some manager expected the team to show up 7 days a week, I would refuse today. Why?
That is an important point. It is not just health care, but in many cases, your actual health that is tied to your employment. This is going to change, because it does not work well. I work in research, which has very busy periods, followed by slower ones. One upshot of my job is that I do get rewards from effective work, in terms of grants, increased salary, and independence. The downside is that when funding is low (and currently it is very low), sometimes effective work goes unrewarded for so long, that you lose your job.
It can work, but I think it is rare to find a company in the position to invest in their employees right now. Hopefully that will change and it will become the norm.
And some of those that are in the position to invest are not willing to because their charter is to maximize shareholder value. Things always go in cycles, those companies that are taking advantage of their employees will quickly find themselves looking for new ones once things turn around.
This. My industry is project based. We take the work when we can get it, and if it means piling it on in order to make sure we can keep a job that is offered we do it. Our techs are salaried, and they occasionally howl when too many hours in a week pile up. The funny thing is, we always offer to switch them to hourly pay scale based on their current salary and a 40 hour work week, where they don't get paid unless they are on the job site. Clams them up instantly. In all fairness, we have a great team that has each others backs and totally kick ass, and everybody steps up when it's crunch time. They just need to be reminded of how much they enjoy their Fridays off when it's slow :)
I know that all too well. Especially during the skiing and surfing seasons.
But on many a beautiful summer day, the following occurs: Boss walks into office. Boss: What are you doing? Me: Working. Boss: Do you need to get it done today? Me: No, but I'd like to. Boss: Too bad. Grab your helmet, we're going riding.
If he needs the money and he doesn't have guaranteed mobility to another position that can fulfill that need, he's going to work the overtime. It's easy to take a principled stand when you don't need the money.
I heard this story from an Accounting professor. He loved it, I hated it.