What It’s Really Like to Work at Google →
Kelly Clay paraphrasing an anonymous Google engineer:
While he says there is no direct pressure to conform to “crazy hours,” he hints at the reason he lives a Google-centric life: His pay is directly related to the amount of time he spends with Google. For those who can’t keep up with the demand, they simply have no choice but to leave, as previous (and notably older) Google employees have done when they must make the choice between raising a family or getting a raise. (I personally know at least one former Seattle-area Googler who quit under similar circumstances after being forced to either choose seeing his newborn less, or receive a demotion if he didn’t travel more.)
This workaholism culture has infected much of the tech industry, especially startups. It’s sad that it has even hit Google to at least some degree.
Even before my wife was pregnant, I never let a job prevent me from having a healthy relationship and home life. You just need to stand up for yourself: if you need to work long hours constantly (not just in occasional “crunch times”) to remain competitive and reasonably paid, your employer has serious cultural problems that will probably never be fixed.
There are plenty of employers out there who respect their employees enough to permit them to have a work-life balance.