Any honest answer here will have to be "it depends".

It depends on the company. It depends on the industry. It depends on the project. It depends on the culture. It just depends.

For reference, I work on a team that normally works 45 hours a week, but due to customer demands and deadlines can stretch to 60.

Also, a lot of what determines how much overtime you work is your philosophy. Most of the people I know who complain about overtime do it to themselves. That email that comes in at 8pm that you just can't resist answering. Struggling to complete a project before a deadline just so it's the new normal for you and they pile more work on you while you're getting paid the same as everyone else. Staying late at the office to prove a political point in engineering offices where people don't care for such things.

And then those people go around like it's a badge of honor that they "worked so hard". Yea, check yourself buddy, we get paid the same amount of money.

Ultimately, if a company fired me because I refused to work past 6pm every day when there's no critical production issues or deadlines to meet, that isn't a company I would work for. Why? because any programmer worth their salt knows that productivity levels drop past a certain number of work hours.

I wouldn't say we have more overtime than say, accountants or lawyers or any other upper class white collar career.

If you're trying to avoid overtime, here is what I would avoid:

1. Video Game Companies - I have heard horrible things regarding treatment of employees, since due dates can never be moved or it is extremely bad PR. Say hello to 80 hour work weeks for months before game release. Avoid at all costs.

2. Startups - Since they are not established and usually have multiple competitors, overtime work is common. However, with great risk comes great reward.

Any honest answer here will have to be "it depends".

It depends on the company. It depends on the industry. It depends on the project. It depends on the culture. It just depends.

For reference, I work on a team that normally works 45 hours a week, but due to customer demands and deadlines can stretch to 60.

Also, a lot of what determines how much overtime you work is your philosophy. Most of the people I know who complain about overtime do it to themselves. That email that comes in at 8pm that you just can't resist answering. Struggling to complete a project before a deadline just so it's the new normal for you and they pile more work on you while you're getting paid the same as everyone else. Staying late at the office to prove a political point in engineering offices where people don't care for such things.

And then those people go around like it's a badge of honor that they "worked so hard". Yea, check yourself buddy, we get paid the same amount of money.

Ultimately, if a company fired me because I refused to work past 6pm every day when there's no critical production issues or deadlines to meet, that isn't a company I would work for. Why? because any programmer worth their salt knows that productivity levels drop past a certain number of work hours.

I wouldn't say we have more overtime than say, accountants or lawyers or any other upper class white collar career.

If you're trying to avoid overtime, here is what I would avoid:

1. Video Game Companies - I have heard horrible things regarding treatment of employees, since due dates can never be moved or it is extremely bad PR. Say hello to 80 hour work weeks for months before game release. Avoid at all costs.

2. Startups - Since they are not established and usually have multiple competitors, overtime work is common. However, with great risk comes great reward.

Any honest answer here will have to be "it depends".

It depends on the company. It depends on the industry. It depends on the project. It depends on the culture. It just depends.

For reference, I work on a team that normally works 45 hours a week, but due to customer demands and deadlines can stretch to 60.

Also, a lot of what determines how much overtime you work is your philosophy. Most of the people I know who complain about overtime do it to themselves. That email that comes in at 8pm that you just can't resist answering. Struggling to complete a project before a deadline just so it's the new normal for you and they pile more work on you while you're getting paid the same as everyone else. Staying late at the office to prove a political point in engineering offices where people don't care for such things.

And then those people go around like it's a badge of honor that they "worked so hard". Yea, check yourself buddy, we get paid the same amount of money.

Ultimately, if a company fired me because I refused to work past 6pm every day when there's no critical production issues or deadlines to meet, that isn't a company I would work for. Why? because any programmer worth their salt knows that productivity levels drop past a certain number of work hours.

I wouldn't say we have more overtime than say, accountants or lawyers or any other upper class white collar career.

Any honest answer here will have to be "it depends".

It depends on the company. It depends on the industry. It depends on the project. It depends on the culture. It just depends.

For reference, I work on a team that normally works 45 hours a week, but due to customer demands and deadlines can stretch to 60.

Also, a lot of what determines how much overtime you work is your philosophy. Most of the people I know who complain about overtime do it to themselves. That email that comes in at 8pm that you just can't resist answering. Struggling to complete a project before a deadline just so it's the new normal for you and they pile more work on you while you're getting paid the same as everyone else. Staying late at the office to prove a political point in engineering offices where people don't care for such things.

And then those people go around like it's a badge of honor that they "worked so hard". Yea, check yourself buddy, we get paid the same amount of money.

Ultimately, if a company fired me because I refused to work past 6pm every day when there's no critical production issues or deadlines to meet, that isn't a company I would work for. Why? because any programmer worth their salt knows that productivity levels drop past a certain number of work hours.

I wouldn't say we have more overtime than say, accountants or lawyers or any other upper class white collar career.

If you're trying to avoid overtime, here is what I would avoid:

1. Video Game Companies - I have heard horrible things regarding treatment of employees, since due dates can never be moved or it is extremely bad PR. Say hello to 80 hour work weeks for months before game release. Avoid at all costs.

2. Startups - Since they are not established and usually have multiple competitors, overtime work is common. However, with great risk comes great reward.