Its for one simple reason. If there is a sizable(but not majority) chunk of people who work above average hours, they will very likely produce above average qua

Its for one simple reason. If there is a sizable(but not majority) chunk of people who work above average hours, they will very likely produce above average quantity and quality of work. By that very virtue they will be more competitive, better and well ranked above the remaining majority. And it will eventually lead to having an effect on things like compensation and long term career viability. If you as a young person want to work less, your older self will want to work lesser, and it keeps getting harder to catch up, to a point you will eventually have to give up. This will eventually create a lot of long term problems for non-participants in this crazy work hours work life. There fore they ask for some sanity as a overall work culture. This is nothing new to software. My dad was a bus driver at a factory, he used to tell me that people who picked up over time work were routinely hated, by the remainder who didn't want to or couldn't. Nobody likes to watch themselves being at an disadvantage due to their own actions.