Emphatically this. This is also why I choose to work in automation. My work-life balance is a direct result of the investment I've made into doing my work well. I've engineered the company's systems and processes in a way that results in less work for people as a whole. That lets us all work more efficiently.

For the handful of weeks I've worked every night until 2am, there's 20x as many where I've done a couple of hours work in the morning and then been a paid SME the rest of the day. And seemingly unlike most engineers, I think getting paid to talk to people is FANTASTIC.

You simply cannot do this if you are hourly.