tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post1748712486898424530..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: Work/Life Imbalance in Silicon ValleyStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-32094027749460858832017-09-01T16:01:07.297-07:002017-09-01T16:01:07.297-07:00I guess they're ALL on salary; hourly workers ...I guess they're ALL on salary; hourly workers wouldn't be allowed to do that.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-48334798364508635282017-09-01T11:23:57.300-07:002017-09-01T11:23:57.300-07:00There is a big difference in working long hours to...There is a big difference in working long hours to get something specific done and working long hours in order to impress everyone with your dedication and/or to rack up more billable hours.<br /><br />It's fine to expect people (professional people) to work 70 or 80 hour weeks for finite periods of time, say when getting the big sales proposal ready or getting the software release done, but if people are working 80 or 100-hour weeks for years on end, creativity and judgment are going to suffer and potentially-serious mistakes are going to be made.David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-221700729936773372017-09-01T08:15:18.810-07:002017-09-01T08:15:18.810-07:00I don't know exactly what they do in Silicon V...I don't know exactly what they do in Silicon Valley, but if you're a junior associate in a big law firm and you're routinely billing 100+ hour weeks, most of that is routine scut work that a good secretary or paralegal could accomplish. You're stapling papers and charging the clients full rates; you're not capable of doing much else. No one with case responsibility would trust the judgment of someone putting in those hours (one hour of billing probably equals an hour and a half of real time). But it's how that game is played. Most of these associates burn out and move on with a resume builder and contacts, the survivors of the pyramid scheme move up.Jack Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17873320680596889057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-88326568332226917512017-09-01T08:02:52.966-07:002017-09-01T08:02:52.966-07:00Stuart: At law firms, more billable hours adds up ...Stuart: At law firms, more billable hours adds up to more revenue. An associate bills at hundreds of dollars an hour—someone will be kind enough to give me a more precise number—so however unproductive he is, he is generating income.<br /><br />Sure, if you're billing out hours, exaggerate galore, include every minute you're thinking about your case while in the shower, driving to work. If the scam works, keep it up! But if you're an employer who is actually paying for the diminishing returns directly, you may see things differently.<br /><br />The small employee-owned engineering company I work for for a long time had a policy of comp-time, so if you're on salary and need 80 hours this week to finish a project on time, you should do that if you can. And your reward is you could take off 40 hours in the coming months. Unfortunately that generous policy was eliminated, although it is still used informally. I'm sure many work much longer than 40 on a regular basis, and they do get that back indirectly at bonus time.<br /><br />I also have encouraged co-workers to write down actual hours spent, even if salary is fixed, since that allows management to see time spent, but I can see there is also pride involved, and some people don't want to admit they're slow or inefficient.<br />Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.com