Ask HN: At which companies do programmers work less than 7 hours a day?

Some options:

1. https://www.keyvalues.com/ is great job board that has some companies that explicitly claim they have work/life balance. The writeups let you see working hours in some cases, for good or for bad; make sure to read them, they all have different definitions of work/life balance.

2. You can apply to any company that sounds like it'll be reasonable, and if you get a job offer negotiate a shorter workweek. I've done this, and I also interviewed someone who did this at 7 or 8 different companies: https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-programmer...

3. Negotiate a shorter workweek at your current job. Actually easier than finding a new job.

4. Just... work less hours. I.e. you're at normal 40-hour/week job, and you just work 7 hours a day. If you're good at what you do you'll be just as productive, if not more. I did that involuntarily at some point due to RSI limiting how many hours I could type. No one complained about shorter hours because I was productive enough. Downside is companies often judge you by hours in office, not by output (https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/06/21/why-company-want-lon...).

I cover these and other approaches in my book: https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/

The broke ones need you to work 15 hrs a day and "you'll get your backpay once were back on our feet"

It could be dumb luck, but I haven't worked at a company that had official hours in about 17 years. I've got used to working at companies where as long as you produce good work, show up to scheduled meetings, and don't outright embarrass your boss, you can come and go as you like.

Less than 7 hours (6 or less) is typically considered a part time arrangement. If you're a high performer, you can try to negotiate for this kind of situation, but it's rare to start a job with that type of benefit. You should expect to lose a proportionate amount of your salary, (keep in mind that depending on your tax bracket, the percentage hit to your take home will be less affected.)

The benefit of being officially on part time is that it sets everyone's expectations and shouldn't negatively impact your promotion trajectory, especially if you're able to fulfill your duties on a part time schedule.

This depends heavily on the country.

Southern Europe really has an "ass in the chair" perspective to work, despite resembling relaxed/lazy to the outsiders.

Netherlands and Nordics, from what I heard, are the opposite.