[anilr]

I agree large companies tend to be more likely to fit the requirement but there are also some small companies in this space.

The company I work for, for example, has is small (50 people) but as it's been revenue positive from the start it knows to focus on the longterm win - you don't get that by burning out employees. (If you're a RoR dev... www.platphormcorp.com)

Here are a few tips: 1. Make sure to ask during an interview what office hours are like, and let the company know you're looking for a good balance. A good company will be honest about their expectations - in general nobody wants a bad fit when hiring.

2. It's your life, not the company's. If you told the company you want a good work life balance - start your day at 8 and end at 5pm consistently every day (or whatever the normal work hours are). Let people know those are your hours and that you have other commitments (i.e. a life to live). I've worked with a few people (in other companies) who are great at this - and they were amongst the performers. If your manager knows asking you to work late isn't an option they'll figure something out - that's a manager's job. If you work off hours regularly, a manager will ask you to do it again.

As for tech debt that's a trickier one. It never makes sense to get rid of all tech debt (imo). A tool that's working, that is not really important to the company's future, likely doesn't not need refactoring any time soon. Of course, if business critical software should be kept up-to-date.