“If you feel the need for work-life balance, maybe you’re not in the right work.”
In that case, most of us are f*cked. At least according to Lucy Guo, the world’s youngest self-made billionaire and co-founder of Scale AI.
She works 90-hour weeks, starting her day at 5:30 a.m. and finishing around midnight. Apparently, she finds one to two hours per week to squeeze in time for family and friends. “You should always find time for that, regardless of how busy you are,” she adds.
*gasp* Lucy’s a family woman!
Back in 2018, China’s 996 culture (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week) sparked global backlash. Today, that same grindset is quietly creeping into North America, with startup founders and tech execs claiming this intensity is “necessary” to win.
If you’re a founder or CEO and genuinely love what you do, great. I work 60 to 70 hours a week myself while juggling a full-time job and building GradSimple. I love it.
But this should be a personal choice, not an ideal. And definitely not the norm.
Most people don’t have equity. Most people don’t have control. They’re not chasing billion-dollar exits. They’re just trying to live.
Shining a spotlight on 90-hour workweeks as the blueprint for success isn’t inspirational, it’s exploitative.
We need work-life respect. Respect for people’s time. Respect for their health. Respect for their families, their weekends, their lives outside of Slack. It’s non-negotiable.
If tech wants to lead the future of work, it needs to start by respecting the people who are doing the work.
Work. Life. Respect.
P.S. The people at the top won’t fix this. We will. Share this with someone who’s ready to demand better. Let’s build work-life respect from the ground up.
