[7Figures2Commas]

80+ hours per week? Are you joking? Most startups aren't 9 to 5, but please name a single startup where you believe employees regularly put in 80 hour-plus weeks.

Even in professions like law and investment banking, where employees do have to work grueling hours on a regular basis, the "80 hour work week" is largely a myth. I think medical residents are one of the few groups that really puts in these types of hours consistently.

[wpietri]

Yes. And from what I've seen, the companies where developers regularly do put in stupid hours aren't doing it because it's effective. It's a sign of dysfunction. E.g., a competition to be seen as the toughest, or a manager who can't really evaluate productivity other than by counting butts in seats.

[pyrrhotech]

hah, don't get me wrong, I highly doubt anyone really "works" a 80 hour week. I personally work 35 given that I take an hour and half for the gym + lunch everyday. And out of that 35, I probably spend 10 reading HN, learning new tech, doing personal emails, and other not exactly job-related activities, so 25 I'd say total of real 'work'.

so I was probably exaggerating a bit, but I stand by my original comment that many of these overworked, underpaid startup employees lead absolutely miserable lives and work harder than 95% of people on the planet.

For reference, the US in general works more hours per week than any other industrial nation. Hunter gatherers worked only 15 hours/week. Most impoverished nations work very few hours per week. The only people who beat them out are sweat shops in Southeast asia