I've heard this distinction before, and I think it's a difference in the base quality of the place. My last three jobs all put "passion" as a major hiring criteria, but all maintained a strong work/life balance (average work week was 40 hours give or take a few, and though crunch times happened more than a few weeks a year was considered a bad thing. I conducted plenty of interviews myself and helped write interview questions so I'm pretty confident in what _we_ meant at least, even if I wasn't a hiring manager.

One of those places, however, did slide after a few years into the nastiness described (I left when the slide started, and it reportedly continued). Another

So while "Passion" CAN mean "we want huge levels of uncompensated work without complaint", that has not been the norm for mean and I think it's a mistake to assume that is what is always meant. Certainly I've been at some great places to work that I'd have avoided if I thought asking for passion was a negative.