I understand there are reasons to work overtime. But you shouldn't do it just because you feel guilty. It is not your responsibility to maintain production just because your employer can't find new employees or keep the ones they have. This has been my philosophy since COVID. I've been doing the job of 2 people since the spring of 2020. I don't work overtime. I don't socialise much. I mostly keep my head down and work (while listening to my podcasts). I keep busy and work hard. I don't feel any guilt anymore for not working overtime. Before COVID we had an employee who was good and could have stayed on after covid but he moved on to another field for (much) better pay. We had an employee this summer helping in my department and he was pretty good. But upper management lied to him and promised overtime. He left his last job because it was a toxic environment but he took a pay cut. He thought he could make up the difference with overtime. But in our department we didn't need to do overtime because they hired him. And no one offered him overtime in other departments even when he asked. So he left for a better paying job after only 3 months.
I've been there long enough to get decent pay and the hours and benefits are just enough for my life. So I stay but I see no reason for me to work on my time off because the company is so old fashioned about salary. Thanks for letting me rant