Why would any employee work 50-60 hours in US? Aren’t you paid for your standard 38 hours? Unless you own the company why would you? USA is a big country and should be enough jobs to find one that isn’t stealing your life/time?
My brother moved to London from Sydney and Londoners work huge hours there. if they suggest he stay back longer without remuneration, he just says **** you read our contract.
my situation is different right now, as i'm currently a consultant and get paid by the hour.
but even when i was employed full time at a large US corporation, it wasn't about the hours or the money for me. what mattered more was that I was accomplishing something meaningful; i was more goal oriented and interested in challenging problems. if the goal took 30hrs/week or 60hrs/week or 80hrs/week, that really didn't matter - it was about accomplishing the goal. Often taking on challenging problems, usually means >40hrs/week; except the few occasions perhaps when i discover a brilliant short cut to solve a problem; but then I just direct my attention to the next challenge.
regarding the comment about "stealing your life/time" away... I think different people can look at that differently. i can understand both sides of that argument. but for me personally, i've chosen a line of work that I actually enjoy, and I like to share what I've accomplished or being challenged by with my family; i ask my kids what's going on at school and I share with them what's going at work. "work" is just a component of my overall "life", as is family, my car hobby, and everything else - i don't treat it as a separate part of my "life" that I have to step out of temporarily to go do. fortunately, perhaps because of the choices i've made, i often have employers/clients that allow me to work from home anyway. so, i don't miss much; i get to see my kids when they come back from school, they come to my office to ask for help with homework, we have dinner together, after the kids are in bed, wifey and I talk or discuss things or find something entertaining on tv to watch together. if I need to focus more on a problem at work, i can do that instead too. if a non-work related thing takes priority, i can choose to not work a single billable hour for a week or two. if I need to work on a really hard problem for a client, i might easily put in 80hours a week or more. life is very flexible for me and I'm happy and thankful for the circumstances i'm in.
i realize not everyone will share my "integrated" outlook on life/work/family. and i also realize not everyone is afforded the same circumstances. but I do feel like life is better when you're just focused on what is important at the time, whether that is family, kids, hobby or work, and not so much on the number of hours spent on a task. and most importantly, always try to find work that you enjoy - even if you have to temporarily work a job you don't (and I have), always keep sight of the next career step and try to make each of those steps something you will enjoy doing.