Surgery as a greedy job: The valorization of the worker's professionalism for women in surgery

Introduction Greedy job is referred to a condition in which companies and/or institutions require employees to work beyond agreed-upon working hours or beyond agreed standards. With the current shortage of surgeons and increased number of women entering a surgical career, it is fundamental to consider their needs, distress, and motivation factors to implement the surgical workforce. Methods A systematic search was performed to review literature addressing working hours disrespect and greedy jobs in surgery, aiming to report the current evidence with regards to the different impact on general surgeons. Results Greedy job in surgery is common and its consequences are predominantly affecting female gender and younger generation. Prolonged working hours were associated with burnout incidence, reduced time for research and eventually jeopardizing education. Furthermore, job satisfaction, earning and career progression discrepancy between genders, as well as the risk for health and wellness with secondary effects on parenthood and childcare were predominantly hindering women surgeons. Conclusions Sustainable and flexible working hours could represent a valuable opportunity to attract future generations into surgery. This is particularly important for the recruitment of women, who historically have more frequently faced the negative consequences of greedy jobs. Technology might be in the future of aid to overcome space and time constraints, always with the goal to protect rest time, personal life, and mental and physical health, from a perspective we might call “anti-greed”.