Those companies tend to attract type As, and it’s similarly easy for non type As to feel implicit peer pressure. You don’t have to work a ton to succeed.
If you prefer to maintain a 9-5 schedule at these companies, it's extremely possible as long as you:
1) genuinely stick to a 9-5 work routine (some individuals I saw struggling were actually working something like 11-4).
2) are comfortable with the possibility of not experiencing rapid career advancement, potentially reaching a plateau at the first terminal level.
FAANG are megacorps pretending to be startups to young developers, and treat them accordingly. There are other megacorps doing tech that behave like proper megacorps, and pay accordingly.
The people who tend to work extra hours are the ones who choose to in my experience. If you don't work extra hours now you won't after switching to one of those companies either. You might witness folks who do, but you can usually tell they are more self motivated than they are forced into it.
Depends on the company. My stints with BigCorp life were full of 6-7PM meeting times and expectations to keep up with Slack and email even during vacations and holidays.
I have friends at Amazon who have started to miss our Saturday events because they’re feverishly working to avoid being caught in the next round of layoffs.
I also have friends at some FAANG companies who seem like they’re barely working (their own admission) so it varies wildly. Can’t really generalize.
I think it depends how you look at it. For me, it's a pretty small price to pay to look at Slack here and there, whether over the weekend or on vacation, to get paid significantly more. Rarely do I have to actually put in more than an hour or two during these times, and I can very easily take that time off during the work week.
