I used to have the same cynical feeling until I realized that there's very little overlap between the things that are actually cool to work on vs the things that other people need done. And if you prioritize the former over the latter, you're essentially trading off easy money for more stress
During the 9-5, the goal is to solve other people's problems. It's not pretty but it's what we're paid to do
Totally fair point, work isn't supposed to be fun. It's being paid to do something that provides something of value to the person doing the paying.
However, at some point, employers heavily leaned into the whole "work is fun/rewarding/meaningful" shtick in order to skimp out on actual tangible compensation. So I'd argue that an informal "contract" was made or implied, whereby I agreed that "job is fun/rewarding" would form part of my compensation.
And that's going away now as people are realizing they were duped. There's only so many free perks, parties and vending machines before you realize "this place is f-ing toxic, the clients treat us like shit, and my boss really isn't treating me like 'family' and being loyal to me."
There's a difference between work fun and side project fun
The way I see it: work stuff can be "fun" during the 9-5 and it will actually be kind of enjoyable. I don't think that that's bad for the employer or the employee, sort of like a mutually beneficial relationship
For side projects, they can't just be plain fun but have to be interesting also. A project has to push the envelope in some way. And that's a way higher bar that imo shouldn't be conflated with work
During the 9-5, the goal is to solve other people's problems. It's not pretty but it's what we're paid to do