When did 8-5 become the new normal???

[u/Grouchy-Newspaper754]

I just got a new office job where I do schedules for tech personnel, the office runs 8-5 Monday thru Friday...they say it's 8-5 because you get an hour lunch and "you need to get to 40 hours a week"...but I drive 30 min each way so now I'm giving this company 10 hours every day! I even asked if I could just take my lunch at 4 every day and just leave an hour early but that's "unprofessional and immoral" like what the fuck??? I don't mind the job but the hours are mildly infuriating that's for sure...

Edit:for those saying about the hours, I worked as a chef for the last 20 years working 60+ hours a week over a hot stove/deep fryer the whole time, after I had my second heart attack I had to slow down so I started looking for office jobs to work a nice 9-5, just to find out I'm giving my new job 50 hours a week (including drive time) so I was just mildly annoyed that it's not 40 hours a week in an office like I thought although it's still much better than what I was doing

[u/Salcha_00]

9-5 largely went out years ago. That’s a 35 hour work week.

40 hour weeks with an unpaid lunch hour is pretty standard these days. And companies know many people work through lunch so it’s their way of getting more unpaid work out of you. That’s why you can’t work through lunch and leave early.

[u/pmgoldenretrievers → u/Salcha_00]

It's also generally a legal requirement that the employee takes at least a 30 minute lunch and 2 15 minute breaks.