[stackdestroyer]

The expectations vary mostly depending on a few things, IMO:

1. Life stage of the company (startup vs. mature) 2. Role (rank-and-file engineer vs. leadership) 3. Your management

Location has had less to do with the number of hours worked than the items above.

Startups tend to demand more of their staff because it's an existential problem they're trying to solve - become profitable/acquired/public before you run out of money or someone squashes you. Expectations there will be >40 hours pretty much across the board, and will favor single, probably white men.

Mature companies can also demand more of your time, but typically they are easier places to find roles that will not demand much more than 40 hours a week.

With those things said, you could be working for a SOB that simply demands your presence to prove you're doing the most work possible, and in those cases you should decide whether you value your paycheck or your health/sanity. I've been there and choose health/sanity 100% of the time. Burn out just once and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Grustaf]

Single - sure, men - sure most programmers are men, but why would they favour white people? Do they work harder? I’m pretty sure white people are underrepresented in Silicon Valley, while Asians are heavily overrepresented.

[stackdestroyer]

Could be I'm wrong. I look at this across all locations (including where I am, in the middle of the country) and the majority of people I worked with that were putting in crazy hours were single white men. Once people settle down they have a way of self selecting out of the jobs with insane hours.