"Is work-life insanity a global imperative?"

Regarding the new French Labour law, Keith Hammonds said in Fast Company blog

I think the French are doomed; you can't just stick your head in the sand and hope the rest of the world will go away. But I also wonder: Does the crush of the global economy--the threat of competition from lower-cost nations that can do what we do just as well, or better--inevitably require us to work like maniacs, increasingly harder and longer? That attitude has become baked into the American mindset--or at least, the management mindset. But is it really the only way to compete?

Please also try the overtime calculator.