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>This is silicon valley. You are an engineer earning a top 5% salary in one of the richest countries in your 20s. You can do whatever you want, the ball is in y

>This is silicon valley. You are an engineer earning a top 5% salary in one of the richest countries in your 20s. You can do whatever you want, the ball is in your hands--not your employers. Maybe you live in Silicon Valley, but not everyone does, and not everyone is an engineer. In a lot of professions grinding out 60+ hours is the only way to set yourself apart from coworkers and move up the ladder. Moving upwards may not be that important for an engineer who starts at $100k, but for most people who start out in the $50-$70k range it's the only way to enjoy a higher standard of living, better vacations, and pay off student loans faster. I would like to work 40 hours every week but I don't want to be stuck making <$100k for the rest of my life.

pyrrhotech 13y ago
My comment was mostly targeted to young silicon valley engineers with big salaries but often pushed to work long hours and feel uncomfortable but don't know how to stand up for themselves. However, I don't think anyone should be consistently working over 60 hours a week for any reason. When I say working, I should clarify that I mean going to an office where you have an authority figure telling you that you have to do x, y, and z for them to get a paycheck. I love programming on my own projects and could see myself "working" on those 60 hours a week, but I'd never work that hard to make anyone else rich. However, even for your own projects, you still need to set aside plenty of time to eat meals with your family, play with your kids (if you have any), eat healthily, exercise, and meditate. Balance of life is the most statistically proven path to increasing your happiness and well-being. For those making less than 6 figures, I don't think working ridiculous hours is the answer. For one if you can't think of anything else, become an engineer! I mean you are already on hacker news, what are you waiting for?
- Nicholas_C 13y ago
  Ah, yes. > I mean you are already on hacker news, what are you waiting for? Haha, I have definitely considered it. I love programming as a hobby to create neat scripts, automate things, and gather/analyze data, but I enjoy finance as a career. Even the hours aren't too bad as I am working with enjoyable/smart people in my current role.
agilebyte 13y ago
Have you considered moving to a different country where you would have a good standard of living without having to climb up on a ladder?
- Nicholas_C 13y ago
  I wasn't saying my standard of living was poor, I was saying I'd like an even higher one.
  - judk 13y ago
    Research suggests you won't enjoy that higher standing as much as you are think you will.
stephen_g 13y ago
Wow, that must be depressing. In my country (Australia), our full time work week was recently re-defined from a maximum of 40 hours down to 38 hours per week (you can work a 'reasonable' amount of overtime, but it's discouraged because it usually accumulates as time-in-lieu so you can take those hours off at your leisure later on), you get a minimum of four weeks (paid) annual leave and at least 9% superannuation on top of your wage paid into your retirement fund (possibly going up to 12% in 2019). I'd hate to feel pressured into working crazy hours like that.

pyrrhotech 13y ago

My comment was mostly targeted to young silicon valley engineers with big salaries but often pushed to work long hours and feel uncomfortable but don't know how to stand up for themselves. However, I don't think anyone should be consistently working over 60 hours a week for any reason. When I say working, I should clarify that I mean going to an office where you have an authority figure telling you that you have to do x, y, and z for them to get a paycheck. I love programming on my own projects and could see myself "working" on those 60 hours a week, but I'd never work that hard to make anyone else rich. However, even for your own projects, you still need to set aside plenty of time to eat meals with your family, play with your kids (if you have any), eat healthily, exercise, and meditate. Balance of life is the most statistically proven path to increasing your happiness and well-being. For those making less than 6 figures, I don't think working ridiculous hours is the answer. For one if you can't think of anything else, become an engineer! I mean you are already on hacker news, what are you waiting for?

Nicholas_C 13y ago
Ah, yes. > I mean you are already on hacker news, what are you waiting for? Haha, I have definitely considered it. I love programming as a hobby to create neat scripts, automate things, and gather/analyze data, but I enjoy finance as a career. Even the hours aren't too bad as I am working with enjoyable/smart people in my current role.

agilebyte 13y ago

Have you considered moving to a different country where you would have a good standard of living without having to climb up on a ladder?

Nicholas_C 13y ago
I wasn't saying my standard of living was poor, I was saying I'd like an even higher one.
- judk 13y ago
  Research suggests you won't enjoy that higher standing as much as you are think you will.

stephen_g 13y ago

Wow, that must be depressing. In my country (Australia), our full time work week was recently re-defined from a maximum of 40 hours down to 38 hours per week (you can work a 'reasonable' amount of overtime, but it's discouraged because it usually accumulates as time-in-lieu so you can take those hours off at your leisure later on), you get a minimum of four weeks (paid) annual leave and at least 9% superannuation on top of your wage paid into your retirement fund (possibly going up to 12% in 2019). I'd hate to feel pressured into working crazy hours like that.