Allowing yourself to be exploited is a great way to ensure that careers face a race to the bottom with employers offering fewer benefits, less pay etc all because people are desperate to find a job.

This isn't a 'meritocracy'. This is exploitative behavior disguised as being beneficial mixed in with a bit of survivorship bias. I've had friends of mine take software jobs paying well the average (as in, 50k and below in an expensive city) thinking that by just working extra hard the company will reward those efforts.