> I evaluated job offers based on which one will maximize that free time
How can you tell which jobs will give you how much free time? Besides commuting (I hope to work remotely forever), at many big companies, amount of free time greatly depends on the team you land on. Either way, there seems little insight into true work life balance of a company.
You mostly cannot know. If you know someone who works there they may have some insights. Mostly it's useful as a retrospective and realizing that I may have regressed in this new job and maybe I should look for another one.
But there are things one can know such as the number of vacations you'll have.
But yeah commuting is where you have the most certainty.
How can you tell which jobs will give you how much free time? Besides commuting (I hope to work remotely forever), at many big companies, amount of free time greatly depends on the team you land on. Either way, there seems little insight into true work life balance of a company.