Overworking in IT

Does anyone know why software development suffers similar problems of overworking permanent employees to sectors like nursing?

As a contractor I may be limited to working only a certain number of hours per week, and have the confidence to say that my family life and "down time" are crucial to a healthy and fruitful life. The worst I can suffer is being given notice on my contract if I object to any coercion to work silly hours, although interestingly I am rarely pushed into that situation perhaps simply by virtue of being a contractor.

However it’s not an unusual sight: permanent workers working many hours past normal close of business often for no overtime payment. It’s hard to fathom what’s going on. You could speculate that it is loyalty to the company or colleagues, or a desire to maintain one’s image as "the guru". Or is it the strange addictive nature of programming – where despite having a nice partner to go home to, films to watch, friends to see, you can often find yourself voluntarily stuck in front of the screen at midnight?

The sad thing is that we all know that the best work is not done under these conditions, especially not when overworking is prolonged. Happy people are better workers. Slogging away day after day doesn’t make happy people.

There seems to be a particular culture in England where bosses do not let themselves realise this basic fact. I’m confident England would be a much better place to live if we stopped trailblazing Europe as one of the "hardest working" countries (you could read that as least productive) with such ridiculously long hours. It’s one thing if you’re self-employed and profit directly from all the effort, but relying on the little guys in the company in that way just isn’t on in my book.