That's basically what I've concluded. I think it pretty much boils down to status signaling (creating the appearance of "putting in longs hours"). There was another article posted here last week that touched on that phenomenon.
It's just sad to see people I care about get caught up in that culture when I know they are talented enough to work somewhere else and still make really good money and not have to live like that. But I think workaholism can definitely be addictive and a lot of times it is purely self-inflicted by choice whether conscious or unconscious.
At the few places I’ve worked where long hours were the norm, these “long hours” people were not working all 12+ hours they were in the office. You’d walk by their desk and this rockstar was picking his nose, or browsing Facebook, or playing a video game (on his workstation!).
Im convinced most of the long hours culture is an elaborate signaling exercise and “facetime show”.
It's just sad to see people I care about get caught up in that culture when I know they are talented enough to work somewhere else and still make really good money and not have to live like that. But I think workaholism can definitely be addictive and a lot of times it is purely self-inflicted by choice whether conscious or unconscious.