tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post5365844065265632888..comments2024-03-18T02:22:56.392-04:00Comments on Disgusted Beyond Belief: Work Hours and Quality of LifeDBBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17805375811782552873noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-63772794316849270442007-06-23T19:21:00.000-04:002007-06-23T19:21:00.000-04:00Mass market software is a weird business. Network ...Mass market software is a weird business. Network effects matter (you're better off if other people use the same software you do rather than something incompatible) but quality doesn't (you may grumble but you pay anyway) so being first to market even with a terrible product is a good way to win. This, of course, is a recipe for long hours, young employees, and skimping on both design and testing. I may go do embedded work instead--there are real consequences if your toaster or elevator doesn't work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-91494029422970031562007-06-21T00:40:00.000-04:002007-06-21T00:40:00.000-04:00After my divorce, years ago, I got a job as the re...After my divorce, years ago, I got a job as the regional office librarian for one of then (then) Big 8 accounting firms, my first experience with the "salaried" 80 hour week. (Lawyers, accountants, they're all alike.) People bragged about the overtime they worked. I ignored this until they made me a line manager, which put me on the "salaried" list. I found I was expected to work the hours too, even though I was administrative support and only marginally billable; just "peer pressure". <BR/><BR/>I had real trouble with this, for the odd reason that my father was a blue collar worker who came home at 5 PM every day when his shift was over; he worked a solid 40 hours and then he stopped. I remember arguing with myself about "acting professional", on the one side, and resenting being expected to work more than 40 hours for "a week's pay".<BR/><BR/>Eventually I burned out and left the firm, and became a computer programmer. However, I'm the odd subspecies called the "systems programmer" - we didn't work on big programming projects, we just kept the big systems running, keeping the operating system current and patched. We didn't get overtime (this was before the law changed), but if we worked a night or a weekend we could get comp time (if the boss was reasonable). <BR/><BR/>Actually, now I'm an "architect" which means I design stuff but don't build it - one of the reasons I'm retiring, I want to build stuff again. At my rank I'm salaried, and you know, I don't usually work more than about 41 or 42 hours. DBB is right that 8 hours is the max. In fact, if you work straight through lunch (as I often do, due to noon meetings with the East coast), the max is about 6 hours, then I have to find something mindless to do to fill up the day.<BR/><BR/>I've also been tired for nearly a year. I'm trying to convince myself it isn't because I'm getting older :P I've always needed 8 hours of sleep or more, and with all the early meetings I just don't get it. I had to start riding public transit (fortunately it goes to my stop) because I was falling asleep at the wheel commuting. They say it's sleep apnea but I still half believe it's just lack of sleep. Americans work RIDICULOUS hours, we kill ourselves.<BR/><BR/>And I don't even have kids.hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-28945284762727202662007-06-20T13:03:00.000-04:002007-06-20T13:03:00.000-04:00It was not too hard with my current job, but that ...It was not too hard with my current job, but that is the nature of the job. The drawback is that it is also by design only temporary, a few years, and then I'll have to find another. I guess then I'll find out how hard it is to find another job with similar flexibility. <BR/><BR/>But I figure, as with all things, schedule is negotiable. I will negotiate a non-OT schedule for less pay, if necessary. Though as I stated above, I think working longer hours sometimes just lowers quality and gets less done. Ideally I'd hang a shingle, but I would want to work for a few more years first before doing that.DBBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17805375811782552873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-17289747635142509292007-06-20T12:48:00.000-04:002007-06-20T12:48:00.000-04:00Was it difficult for you to find employment that a...Was it difficult for you to find employment that allowed your schedule? Not trying to pry just curious about folks that are able to find this balance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-81183651991400565362007-06-20T09:55:00.000-04:002007-06-20T09:55:00.000-04:00Maya's granny - did those professionals get paid o...Maya's granny - did those professionals get paid overtime for 80 hours? I think one of the most exploitive things in the work world is the concept of 'salaried' being used to force people to work lots of unpaid overtime. It is espcially heinous when the companies that don't pay overtime are charging (and making money off of) every single one of those extra hours.DBBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17805375811782552873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-81793340100856132302007-06-19T16:19:00.000-04:002007-06-19T16:19:00.000-04:00I used to work in an office where the professional...I used to work in an office where the professionals were expected to put in 80 hour weeks at a minimum. One of our best workers quit and opened his own business where he could control the number of hours he worked, because he said, "I work to live. I don't live to work."Maya's Grannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12183715043200608144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925765946042638459.post-16845893632821108532007-06-19T13:10:00.000-04:002007-06-19T13:10:00.000-04:00That last sentence - "No one says they wish they w...That last sentence - "No one says they wish they worked more when they're on their deathbed" pretty much sums up my entire view of how I want to integrate work into our lives. My husband works for a company where there is a lot of pressure to travel. He's an accountant (it's not a public accounting firm) so there's really not much that he couldn't just do over the phone. The company has salespeople and numerous vice presidents who can go into the world and be the "faces" of the company. So he feels ok about turning down "opportunities" to travel. His boss and the president of the company have said, in unguarded moments, that he just needs to "get out there and sacrifice" and that he won't advance his career unless he's willing to travel. But he keeps choosing to be home consistently for our two young children and for me, because he is childcare two nights a week when I'm working. <BR/><BR/>I used to teach music at a public school, but we made the choice that I would stay home once we had kids. I love what I do and have managed to continue my career as a private teacher, but I limit my schedule to two evenings a week because any more than that would start to be an intrusion on our family life. <BR/><BR/>At the same time, I realize how lucky we are to be able to make this choice. There are so many factors that make economic viability a problem for a lot of middle-class families, and I know we are fortunate to have found two jobs that support us well and that work into the bigger picture of our lives so well. Of course, the private teacher thing was in the back of my mind when I was a 17-year-old, choosing my career path. I knew I might want to stay home with children at some point in my life, and I wanted to have a plan to make that possible. <BR/><BR/>Like you said, I wish more bosses would get a life so their employees would feel free to have one as well. I know the business community is highly competitive, but part of having the best team to keep you ahead of your competition is being a great employer. And extra-long work weeks is just not a tempting part of the package. I wish more business leaders understood that their job is what they do to support their life. But it shouldn't BE their life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com