I would guess that doing the +1 and +2 is mentally and emotionally easier and more satisfying if it's during a hellish 60 hour work week than in a relaxed 10 ho

I would guess that doing the +1 and +2 is mentally and emotionally easier and more satisfying if it's during a hellish 60 hour work week than in a relaxed 10 hours you freed up by getting more pay and a 30 hour week to do something easy. Like doing programming problems is fun for a bit, but doing work that actually does something, even if it's simpler in complexity is more satisfying. IMO of course. I think the recruiters could be pitching better if they went with, do 'it' here and think about what +1 could be and when you figure what that could be, pitch it to us. This of course assumes the organization sees IT as a value multiplier and not a cost center / plumbing job.