Someone who's consistently working extra spoils the situation for the rest of the team. They'll eventually end up having the most knowledge and experience since they're working with the code more and they'll almost certainly be the most productive person on the team. When it's time for reviews, raises, and promotions who do you think a naive manager will flag as the all star top performer on the team? One can argue that that's fine and they deserve the raises and promotions because they're working extra, but it ends up putting the team in a very unhealthy place where the other team members can't really compete with the workaholic unless they too start working extra.
I'm facing this exact problem. The guy that works on the weekend, is unfortunately the most senior engineer on our team (it's quite sad really. He has nothing to prove, a wife and kid, yet he works weekends with no reward).
He's setting the benchmark higher and higher with everything he's doing. It adds zero value, yet he still does it. It leaves us other devs having to keep up for the sake of it.
Not OP, but, not only is this style of working unhealthy, it promotes this unhealthy style in the rest of the company. It promotes burn-out, work inefficiency, unrealistic standards, among other problems.
Whenever I have the say-so, I will flat-out forbid anyone from doing this.
I'm just starting out in my career as a student and I don't have much to do except for my work, side projects and studies. I sometimes work on weekends but I don't promote it at all. This is not a standard I'm setting and I don't expect anyone to do the same.
Obviously, when I'm with my family or friends, the whole scene is different; I want to get off work early. But I think you can work on weekends if you feel so because some people have nothing better to do and that's their escape.
I think you gotta be so careful when you talk about what's a personal choice. We tend to see this in a black and white: either you are forced to do something, or you choose to do it. But in reality it's a total spectrum. "Soft" forces like peer and manager pressure can be hugely impactful. For some folks deadlines are just a target, but for others, whether due to their value set or their anxiety or whatever it might be, they are inviolable laws.
We are social creatures, and we are not good at making decisions when those decisions come at a social cost.
One of my closest friend will work nights and weekends to complete every project she is assigned. If she doesn't finish them her anxiety will tear her apart. Quitting because of overwork is, in a value set that her parents indoctrinated her in, a personal failure and an admission of defeat. She chooses to work nights and weekends, but it's a choice made under the coercion of her own demons.
Sorry getting a little dramatic there, but this is something I feel really strongly about! Anyway I think there are definitely people who work weekends simply because they feel like it, but I suspect many more do so because they fear to break norms and "let down" their peers and managers.
I think I understand. Someone who doesn't have anything better to do might as well contribute their idle time to working, as long as it's voluntary and without expectation.
I might agree were the worker a shareholder or founder or otherwise long hours were the explicitly stated, well-compensated expectation when hired.
For the average full time employee, absolutely not, particularly not even for junior/entry-level. Spending unpaid evenings and weekends at work prevents someone like yourself from acquiring and maintaining a social life, emotional resilience, physical health, community support, romance, poetry, moments that make life worth living. I'll be damned before I participate in the crushing of souls like that, my own included.
That said, there are roles for people who cannot live another life. If that's you, do not waste your ambition as a full time employee. Be a founder, or work in finance. Or at least a freelancer with unlimited hours. Be compensated for your time.
Otherwise, pick up a hobby. Hit on that cute barista. Learn to play ukulele. Join a tabletop RPG club.
> I can't bare the devs that go out of their way to work weekends without being asked
What is wrong with the devs who work on weekends? (if they aren't bothering you, of course)