If your employer is a for-profit company, why would you work above and beyond what they're paying you to do? You might feel an obligation to your users, your m

If your employer is a for-profit company, why would you work above and beyond what they're paying you to do? You might feel an obligation to your users, your manager or your teammates to go the extra mile. But recognise that what you're ultimately doing is enriching the owners of the company - people with capital who aren't working at all for the profit you generate. Which is absolutely fine while you're getting paid fairly for your time. Work is work, volunteering is volunteering. Keep them separate. People are more likely to value and respect the things they pay for. People often forget to value things they get for free. That includes employers with your time. Unpaid overtime often goes unnoticed, or just becomes expected. In my professional life I occasionally go above and beyond. Usually when I'm both enjoying the work and the thing I'm doing is highly visible. But those times are more than balanced out by the time I have slacked off in core hours. And I have still delivered value, been recognised for it and advanced. I perhaps could have advanced quicker if I'd done unpaid overtime. But then I would have been more stressed, and have had less time to invest in other areas of my life. Some of these extra curricular things have been helpful to my career. Like learning promising technologies I am interested in, whether or not they have immediate relevance to my employer. Or doing job interviews. >Searching for another job is not an option at this point I wonder why this is not an option. If it is because you lack the time or confidence to do so, then cutting back on working for free should help with that.