dotbob

OP here. There are a couple of people talking about a totally chill environment and pretty much coasting (e.g., "at least an opportunity to get lost in the bureaucracy")

This would be way too far on the scale.

The thing which I am looking for is precisely that proverbial "balance". Spend regular hours, a normal amount of energy, make a solid contribution in that time, close my notebook and enjoy non-work-related things.

OP here. I am curious. What about tech-excellency?

I am not sure (I have never been to such companies). However, I believe that such problems (tech-debt and mediocre engineering culture) only tend to grow with time.

OP here. I don't think that I am looking for a completely chill environment, just something saner than "everything is on fire all the time."

I agree that there is a competition. However, I disagree entirely that crazy pressure and long hours win.

- In b2b companies, it's all about the sales team, and engineering is more of necessary evil dragged by sales along.

- Tech debt and mediocre teams, which I described above, slow things substantially (this is the reason why more hours and bodies are thrown at problems)

Also, I know several great engineers and a team of them working regular hours will wipe a floor with a much-much larger team working a huge number of hours (in organizations I mentioned above). (BTW. Usually, such a small team of great engineers go and build a brand new startup. This would solve the tech-excellency problem, but it doesn't solve the work-life balance problem)