Because the job market is worse and employers have forced down engineers' bargaining power. And it's a virtuous cycle for them: the more overtime an employee wo

Because the job market is worse and employers have forced down engineers' bargaining power. And it's a virtuous cycle for them: the more overtime an employee works, the fewer employees they need to hire. On a societal level, this makes jobs even scarcer, which makes employees more desperate, and more are willing to work overtime.