"We aren't like the other big companies," was a line I heard associated with some big tech companies circa 2006. Implication was that they saw the dysfunction at larger firms and chose to build something different.

Fast-forward twenty years, and they're just like them.

I'd argue tech companies today are worse.

Large firms back then were dysfunctional and unproductive, but the amount of stress was minimal compared to tech today.

It was not the burnout machine when all of us joined.

Oh, it definitely was.

We were just younger. Now we have lives and families and sleeping under our desks sounds far less appealing when there's a warm bed with a spouse you love back home...

Yep. It definitely wasn't the case 10 years ago.

It became significantly worse, with way more micromanagement, less productivity and lower quality products.

I joined a hungry machine that was desperate for my labor. I would love to be properly exploited like I used to be. Instead I'm expected to spend all my time faffing about talking about how i might actually do some work in some theoretical world. and that makes me miserable.