There are certain jobs in which eye-wateringly long days are now seen as par for the course, says Bailey. This includes the likes of investment bankers or management consultants, where big pay packets are seen as justification for little to no free time. In vocational jobs too, such as education or healthcare, there’s an assumption that staff are passionate enough to happily stay late or take on extra tasks. According to an NHS survey in January 2022, three-quarters of healthcare staff said they took on extra unpaid hours because of a pressure to do so out of commitment or goodwill.
