I work for an IT company that is primarily services (project) based rather than product based. All software engineers are salaried. The company has set new expectations that everyone should work 48 hours per week instead of 40.

Note, this isn't occasional overtime due to crunches. This is the new 40.

The reasoning is that this enables the company to provide benefits to its employees such as monetary incentives and training because the company is more profitable.

more hours worked = more billable hours = larger profit

I understand the need for profitability and the occasional crunch time and have put in the extra hours when it was needed and beneficial to the project. However, I am also very sensitive to work life balance and have raised my concerns about the the new expectation.

My employer is open to other methods to increase profitability so I hold hope that we can turn things around before it becomes a horrible place to work.

How does a services based company become more profitable without increasing the number of hours expected from it's salaried employees?

Are there any case studies showing the pros and cons of consistent overtime?

Are there any case studies for a successful service based business model (for software development companies) that does not require consistent overtime from its employees?