[kloncks]

I genuinely don't understand the criticism. You don't find or enjoy working 70-90 hours healthy? That's your view and you likely shouldn't apply for this position.

Even assuming this is crazy, what's wrong with crazy people recruiting similarly minded crazy people? It's most obviously not a fit for anyone who wants to work 40 hours or wants to see their kids or whatever, but for those, there are plenty of other jobs. I just find it crazy that because of your personal views on work-life-balance, you expect Ng to have to change his desires for you. That seems wrong to me imho.

[wageslaving]

All I can see are the economics of it. If he was paying his engineers $600,000 / yr in compensation for all the overtime they're working, I would have no trouble with the arrangement.

However, software engineers rarely get any form of compensation for extra hours work outside of small vanity bonuses. This is just someone looking to take advantage of the fact they can get free labor out of their employees by "encouraging" them to work an extra 30 to 40 hours a week.

[falcolas]

I, personally, criticize it because I consider it to be abuse. The individuals hired for these kinds of conditions are typically underpaid and overworked, and come out of it burnt out and hating their profession.

EA did this, and were successfully sued for it. The consequences for their actions were greater than just being sued, however; an entire generation or two of game developers were burnt out on their passion and moved away from the gaming industry.