Tech leaders say AI means less work; staff say they work up to 90 hours a week

My experience has been that the work/life balance in Europe is significantly better than here in the US. Work is just one part of the day, whereas here it’s all people ever talk about. I have no idea what many of my friends in Europe even do for a living. It never comes up.

Working 90 hours a week is insane and abuse. I interviewed with a startup a few years ago that stated, in order for me to succeed as a candidate, I’d be expected to work 80+ hours. I showed them the math of what that is as an hourly rate and told them I’d rather take a job at half the salary working 40 hours a week. That company no longer exists either, so it would have been a waste of time.

As a fortune[1] cookie once said: "Even if you win the rat race, remember, you are still a rat."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_(Unix)

No tech leader believes that. They would never let their own staff work less than before.