There is a serious problem in this sort of analysis when you are talking in generalities. The reasons that Apple engineers work 50-60 weeks are very different t

There is a serious problem in this sort of analysis when you are talking in generalities. The reasons that Apple engineers work 50-60 weeks are very different than for barista's. The Apple engineer will be pressured to work a great deal because their skills are relatively unique and the cost to have a 2nd person split the work with them is likely much more than 2x. As such, Apple is going to seek engineers that will work lots of hours, even if they could get 2 "equally competent" engineers to work 30 hrs a piece for the same price or less. As a result, the 50-60 hr a week engineer is probably paid pretty well, much higher than would be strictly necessary to get the engineer to work at that job versus any other job in the universe.* The Barista's job on the other hand is much closer to being a commodity. If the Barista or the coffeeshop wanted 2 workers to handle the "60 hr" workload instead of one, the cost would be almost the same as having one person work. In fact, due to the way part-time versus full-time labor laws work in the US, it is probably cheaper to have 2 people do it. Therefore, the Barista is probably working 50-60 hrs/week spread across multiple jobs to meet ends meat or have extra money for aspirational goals. * I'm butchering the language here, but I think I got the concept right. Engineers at the big tech firms aren't just paid strictly what it would take to bring them in, but also paid enough so they won't want to look to move. It's one of the reasons moving between companies can be so lucrative. + Of course, most workers in the US don't work a 50-60/week. Your average full-time US worker self reported a 47 work week (http://www.gallup.com/poll/175286/hour-workweek-actually-longer-seven-hours.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/175286/hour-workweek-actually-lon...), which I suspect is high due to people's tendency to remember the worst week they've worked recently as a representative week. Also, that poll conflicts with BLS data that suggests the average FT worker does 47h/ week inclusive off commute and breaks.