Lots of that is fear driven from what I can tell. Must 'look/be' busy all the time to show commitment to the managers above.

 

I wouldn't know much about that.
All I can guess is that they would be expected to act in a "professional" manner.

 

well i would not argue with that -- it is part of the neoliberal economic regime we are all working under

interestingly Volkswagen in Germany turn the Blackberry servers off after 6.30pm

 

Always said we should adopt the more continental approach of working.
I seen a couple work pals hit the wall because of doing nothing but work,it taken the one 8 years but it got him in the end.
Thankfully he quit and is now a lot happier and less stressed,actually gets time to go out with the mrs and be at home.

 

I've got one friend like that whose identity is completely tied up with his job and he works really hard, too hard. He has to be going fwd all the time, winning, beating his colleagues, doing the best work, impressing everyone, getting the next promotion, earning more than everyone else.

I think only a few people can pull this off over a life time. Many people hit a bump in the road, like illness, or some personal conflict or difficulty and then crash badly. It's not easy to keep running like that, to have to avoid standing still.