Which seems to present the interesting divide between European software engineers and American ones.<p>In the US, you get pampered, but seem to have lots of late nights, 'crunch' time, etc. In Europe, you get far lower wages but it's treated almost solely as a 9-5 job.
The "dark side" described here is programmers not using our labor power for the right things, not really a downside to <i>having</i> labor power. Instead of being seduced by fancy campuses, we can insist on better working conditions. I work 15 hours/week, mostly on my own schedule, with low pressure. My free time is more important to me than a six figure salary, living in the valley, or free lunch.<p>Generally speaking, programmers in the US have the labor power to shape how we work. But many of us buy into a certain idea of what success means and how to get there. Really no one to blame but ourselves on that count.
It's kind of strange for them to use the word "pampered" when a large number of the perks are basically ways for the company to justify using more of the employees "free" time by taking care of many of the day-to-day practicalities that could take them off-site, like laundry and cooking, or exercise and getting a professional to work those neck muscles to reduce the stiffness from working at a computer for 10+ hour days. I'm sure if some of them could hire a lower wage worker to sleep for them, they'd probably do that too.<p>I don't envy the SV crowd much, but many of the perks are about maximising the amount of time the employees can work over most other considerations. And looked at through that lens, very few of the "perks" a really much in the way of pampering.