"People choose to work a lot because that enables them to have greater purchasing power." Not salaried employees. No one chooses to work unpaid overtime which

"People choose to work a lot because that enables them to have greater purchasing power." Not salaried employees. No one chooses to work unpaid overtime which only decreases purchasing power or at best, keeps it the same while taking a toll on free time and health. People choose to work a lot because they're threatened by their employers with losing their jobs if they don't. That's the only sane reason that anyone would choose to work a lot while salaried. When making an hourly wage, at least the time is compensated, so perhaps people are increasing their purchasing power, but it's never by their own choice since in such situations overtime is always dictated by the employer, not the employee (thus it's not a choice). We just have a sick culture of overtime and employers expecting free work. It's never necessary to do such free work (except to avoid getting fired) and certainly not necessary to do it to get things done. In plenty of contract jobs with no overtime, things get done at the same pace and quality of salaried (free work) jobs, only without the extra hours. Yet the myth still prevails, especially amongst startups. It's convenient for executives, owners, founders, and anyone at the top to get free work. After all, wages are the biggest expenditure in almost any business. What person with a stake in the company wouldn't want free labor, even if it's at the expense of their workers' health and livelihood, even if it ends up negatively impacting the business in the long run?