completely fair point, but also the email said "this will mean working long hours", not "this will mean that everyone at the company is going to be working long

completely fair point, but also the email said "this will mean working long hours", not "this will mean that everyone at the company is going to be working long hours, five days a week, fifty-two weeks a year", which is how everyone else seems to be taking it. I read it more as "there will be times where we will crunch" (which I know is complete blasphemy these days).