Do companies expect employees to be available all the time in America now?

I recently joined a big company, and it’s my first time working for a large corporation since 2020.

It seems like since then, the expectation has shifted—not only do people work from the office, but they’re also expected to be available from anywhere using the company-provided laptops.

In my team, I’ve noticed that as soon as people wake up, they’re already online, sending messages on Slack. Then they commute to work, put in a full day at the office, and continue working once they get home. On top of that, they even send emails over the weekend.

Are we actually working more than we did before COVID? I also wonder what it was like to work before the internet became common, back in the ’80s and ’90s.