bs:comp ratio (Score 1)

As a salaried IT employee of nearly a decade, I have many times considered the bullshit to compensation ratio, and it directly applies to this question. With the bullshit:compensation ratio, each individual is impacted differently. Everybody has a different threshold of bullshit that they will find acceptable. If you are adequately compensated, you may be willing to put up with more bullshit (extra hours in this case) and will be happy with your continued employment. If the bullshit outweighs the compensation, you will be unhappy, and the stresses created will drive you or those around you to make a change. That change could be requesting higher compensation or benefits to level off the bs:comp ratio, or could be initiating your next job hunt.

The bullshit applies to those around you as well. More bullshit could mean your friends see less of you, so you may lose out on those friendships or see them suffer. Or your partner or spouse may have a different level of accepted bullshit than you, and may leave you. Or your children may see less of you and think less of you as a parent (combined with your spouse leaving you, may find an acceptable replacement step-parent). I don't speak from experience on these possibilities, but I've seen them happen.

The solution is to not let the bullshit outweigh the compensation. Seek acceptable compensation to counter the bullshit, at your current employer or at your next one. But whatever you do, don't let the bullshit outweigh the compensation. When that happens, and you accept it, you are lost and must find your way back. It's easier to not get lost in the first place.

Problem solved!