Stress-Comp balance is a better metric than WLB
I often think that work != stress (which hopefully is obvious), and when people keep talking about WLB, it's missing a point, e.g. an employer doesn't really care about your "life" directly, besides that they don't want you to suffer so much that you want to leave and/or bad-mouth about the company. Rather, stress is an important component of your job that affects how long your stay. For example, being given some leeway to do things you enjoy, despite moderately long hours, may not be stress. The pressure to excel may not be (at least not high) stress if your company doesn't have a culture of firing people with low grades during reviews, and gives you the opportunity to change teams easily, etc. So I propose to consider Stress-Comp balance when choosing jobs. How much stress you're asked to take to consider your TC? And do you see that this Stress-Comp balance going up or down over time for the company you work for? Thoughts?
It’s up to you to create a low stress environments. Put rigorous testing practices in place to prevent needing emergency patches at weird hours that interfere with your personal life. Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.
I disagree. Chronic and/or extreme work stress is a result of a toxic culture and ineffective leadership, not an individual’s daily work habits.
I disagree. It’s both. You can make your work harder for yourself than you need to be. Per my example, you need to advocate for policies that ensure production stability that way you can minimize call-ins.