"At will" employment scares me especially since you can be fired without any good reason.
Means you can also quite without any good reason too. Quid pro quo. And the practical upshot is that the vast majority of companies will only terminate you for a *good* reason (do you really think that there are that many capricious employers that love nothing more than to hire staff only to fire them the next day? Hiring is an expensive process).
Working hours are ludicrous which seems to stem from the "at will" factor - people are too scared not to work those extra hours for fear of being fired.
Well, as a European living and working in the US, I've not seen evidence of people being scared such that they work "extra" hours. That's the good thing about employment at will; don't like the conditions/management etc, then quit. I've spent plenty of time in Japan (boy, do those guys work long hours - no one leaves until the boss leaves the office) + Germany, and UK and France -- same deal world wide; those that want to further their career either work harder or smarter (and harder is easier than smarter and equates to longer hours). Try telling a prospective Olympic athlete that they only have to put in 40 hours a week and take 5 weeks vacation every year...
In the EU it is illegal to work more than 48 hours a week without special dispensation
Lolz - so if I want to work longer, to complete a project, to beat the competition to make my company more successful and thus make myself more successful I can't do it? Seems kinda dumb to me. Oh, and the times that I spent in Germany, UK, France etc - no one seemed to pay attention to this rule (except the clock-watchers who would do this in any country and who are destined to a life of mediocrity anyway)