Why do people who work insane hours look at it as a badge of honor?

[Anonymous]

Not talking about a 10-12 hour corporate day, but 14+ day after day? Seriously, unless you are solving world hunger, what exactly are you getting out of it? Like the guy at Deloitte my boss salivates about because he supposedly works 100 hours/week. To me he looks like a walking corpse but the boss thinks he is a human marvel.

Were they not able to please their dad? Hate their family? Have no family so work is their social life? I don't get the attraction.

[Anonymous]

They want more money and they view work as a competitive sport.

[Anonymous]

Because that’s what internal competition at places like Deloitte does to people. They brag about it. And have zero idea their net pay per hour is closer to minimum wage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because that’s what internal competition at places like Deloitte does to people. They brag about it. And have zero idea their net pay per hour is closer to minimum wage.

I felt that way about BIGLAW many years ago. Every extra 100 hours that I billed made another $75k for the firm, but I only saw a small percentage of that (~$18-20k) Yet those extra hours cut into gym time, sleep, dating, etc... My overhead was covered by the first 700 hours that I billed of the minimum 2,000, so every hour that I billed was just pure profit for the firm. So why bother, especially with Uncle Sam and the state/local government taking 50% of that anyway.

[Anonymous]

Because Americans have a warped sense of Lutheran/protestant martyrdom. Working more is a sign of godliness etc for them. It's very unhealthy but has specific roots.

[Anonymous]

Because they are dull and they make their job their entire personality.

[Anonymous]

I work with someone like this. He’s married but doesn’t have kids and I think he’s on the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they are dull and they make their job their entire personality.

This is true. Many have no significant other besides their job. And the social circle is work. It’s sad when you see it because they don’t. They just see dollars to spend alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They want more money and they view work as a competitive sport.

This. And they really like their jobs. This is typically found in industries that have grueling early training, like medicine, law, finance.

I could ask the inverse question too – why do people brag about how little they work? Don’t they realize that slacking off means someone else is picking up the work?

[Anonymous]

Huh I am in biglaw and work horrible grueling hours since Covid (pre covid I had 15 years of very reasonable hours) and it comes up a lot because it it literally all I do these days (but for seeing my kid and husband). But it’s possible my friends think I’m being a martyr or bragging about it when it comes up (they say “how are you, what have you been up to” and I say literally nothing but working, it sucks). I’m not being a martyr. I’m not happy about it but keep hoping this phase ends because I otherwise like my job.

But the point is that I think sometimes listenings think you’re bragging about being busy when really all you are doing is saying you are busy. Western society has a real sensitivity about the way we talk about jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They want more money and they view work as a competitive sport.

This. And they really like their jobs. This is typically found in industries that have grueling early training, like medicine, law, finance.

I could ask the inverse question too – why do people brag about how little they work? Don’t they realize that slacking off means someone else is picking up the work?

Look, I was one of those folks working in banking but I had a number and I stuck to it. It was worth it to me to work crazy hours until 35 when I hit my number and then called it a day.

I have been super lucky to do all this into a healthy stock market so the $$$s have grown quite a bit, and I was able to go off on my own and still consult for a bunch of these clients for 1/2 the pay but literally 80% fewer hours.

Like the BigLaw poster…if you can just keep a couple of clients and you remove the firm, you can net a ton on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Because Americans have a warped sense of Lutheran/protestant martyrdom. Working more is a sign of godliness etc for them. It's very unhealthy but has specific roots.

Other countries have this Lutheran base too (where do you think we got it from?). Like Sweden. Why did they evolve but not us?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They want more money and they view work as a competitive sport.

This. And they really like their jobs. This is typically found in industries that have grueling early training, like medicine, law, finance.

I could ask the inverse question too – why do people brag about how little they work? Don’t they realize that slacking off means someone else is picking up the work?

Look, I was one of those folks working in banking but I had a number and I stuck to it. It was worth it to me to work crazy hours until 35 when I hit my number and then called it a day.

I have been super lucky to do all this into a healthy stock market so the $$$s have grown quite a bit, and I was able to go off on my own and still consult for a bunch of these clients for 1/2 the pay but literally 80% fewer hours.

Like the BigLaw poster…if you can just keep a couple of clients and you remove the firm, you can net a ton on your own.

Look, you sound like a total ashhole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because that’s what internal competition at places like Deloitte does to people. They brag about it. And have zero idea their net pay per hour is closer to minimum wage.

I felt that way about BIGLAW many years ago. Every extra 100 hours that I billed made another $75k for the firm, but I only saw a small percentage of that (~$18-20k) Yet those extra hours cut into gym time, sleep, dating, etc... My overhead was covered by the first 700 hours that I billed of the minimum 2,000, so every hour that I billed was just pure profit for the firm. So why bother, especially with Uncle Sam and the state/local government taking 50% of that anyway.

This is very true, and I also realized it, but, OTOH, if the case is yours and the deadlines are real (like in litigation), where a missed deadline can be a real problem, I put pressure on myself to get things done, and get them done right / produce a good work product. So, perfectionism probably came into play somewhat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Because Americans have a warped sense of Lutheran/protestant martyrdom. Working more is a sign of godliness etc for them. It's very unhealthy but has specific roots.

This. I don't get it. Especially since the idea of meritocracy and fairness in this country is essentially dead.