I work for the European office of a large US BigTech company. Recently got a new manager based in New York, and within weeks I was told I’m showing a “lack of commitment” because I log off at 5:00pm.

Apparently, my Slack going quiet after 5 is “concerning.” Not responding to emails sent late at night is “not being available.” Declining meetings scheduled for my evening is “not being a team player.”

This genuinely surprised me. Where I live, working hours are… working hours. If someone regularly needs evenings and weekends to keep things moving, the assumption isn’t heroism—it’s that something is broken: planning, staffing, or expectations. Staying late to prove you care isn’t admired; it’s usually seen as poor boundaries or bad management.

My manager framed this as “going the extra mile” and said that if I want to grow, I need to be more flexible with my time. From my perspective, that sounds less like flexibility and more like an expectation that Europe should quietly align its life around US time zones.

So I’m honestly curious (and maybe a little confused): Is this actually normal in American tech culture? Is commitment measured by visible availability rather than results? Is staying late a signal of ambition, even if nothing is actively on fire?

From this side of the Atlantic, the idea that leaving on time is suspicious, and that having a life outside of work needs to be justified, feels pretty alien.

Would love to hear if this is just one manager, or if this is simply how things work in the US.