Hey guys, Have read a surprising amount of comments that didn't align to my expectation of good WLB, so wanted to see what your thoughts were. To me, great WLB means working a flat 40 hours per week most of the time. Sometimes it's busy and you need a bit more time to finish everything, or sometimes on a slow week you can squeak out a few minutes early on Friday. In my mind, 40 hours / week = full-time. Less than that is considered part time. (I know this is not a legal term, but this is my expectation.) I've read quite a few comments here that describe good WLB as working 10-20 hours per week, and this is at top companies with people making $200k+. And 40 hours is considered a lot. And more than that is considered time to quit. I'm curious if I'm just hearing from a very vocal minority or not. Cheers TC - 180, non-tech. YOE - 17
Why isn't there an option for exactly 40 hours?
WLB is not a measure of hours worked. It's about flexibility for me to accomplish non-work things during the traditional work day. WLB is leaving at 1pm on a Tuesday to go to a dentist appointment. WLB is being able to take PTO when I want, not when it's convenient for my manager or the team I work on. WLB is being able to work 7-3 for a few weeks while I am on a working vacation with my wife. WLB is being able to work 8-12, log out and eat lunch, take a nap, and go for a jog, then log back in at 3 to keep working. WLB is not "I only work 20 hr a week".
Even with all that flexibility if you end up working 10-11 hours everyday, would you call it good WLB? I’d not. Yes, flexibility is important, but so is having reasonable expectations of the number of hours you need to work.
Appreciate the reply and that is all reasonable. But you describe a lot of scenarios where you want to shave off work time; when you take a siesta, do you make up those hours on the back end? My ultimate question is kinda this. Does your week end up being 30 hours of work after all the stuff you do, or is it 40+ or something else. Completely agreed on wanting to have time for life. I have a kid that is sick and am seeing some sort of doctor often. But my weeks are not shortened because of it.
Less than 30 hours and some flexibility throughout the week. Atleast for SWE its is a lot of thinking and meetings which can wear you out, combined with deadlines. You might get paid a lot but its the per hour rate that matters more
My brain cannot think for 8 hours straight all 5 days a week , it feels unnatural
How many hours per week can you think?
I know people who work 10 hours per week at big tech getting >300k. Less than 30 hours per week is quite common at big tech from my observation.