SINGAPORE: A man has ignited a firestorm online after boldly claiming that the job market was much harsher in his day and questioning if today’s younger generation could even handle the challenges of that era.
On Thursday (Feb 26), he posted on the r/singaporejobs forum, saying, “Nowadays, I keep hearing from people that jobs are rare these days? Is it really that bad? But if so, why do HDB prices keep climbing, which does not reflect the reality on the ground? How many people can really last a period of 6-7 years doing temp or contract jobs and then sleep at home when the job offer ends nowadays?”
Detailing his past experiences, he said that he had survived some of the most challenging economic times in Singapore, particularly during the years 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2003.
He recalled, “I remember starting working in 1997 in some S$1k-plus job, and then by 1998, the economy had totally collapsed. COE goes to S$50, and HDB and condos crashed by 40-50%. Many could not pay margin calls and were poor beyond hope. Then towards 1999, the market was stagnant too and had limited jobs.”
“I left my ‘old 1997 job’ in late 1999 and then started working in contract jobs or temp roles until the market was slowly recovering in 2000. Then the dot-com bubble burst, and there were no more permanent jobs again. In 2001, I found a contract job for S$1.7k, and then 9/11 [attack happened].”
Not wanting to be trapped in a cycle of short-term work, he decided to go back to school in 2002 to improve his prospects.
However, by the time he finished his studies the following year, just as he was ready to look for stable work, the SARS outbreak hit, disrupting the economy once more. The man said he had to keep taking whatever temporary or contract jobs he could find, living with the stress of unstable income. It wasn’t until May 2005 that he finally landed a permanent position.
“I finally found a permanent job and stayed there for 12 years because I was terrified of those jobless days. Inflation was low but jobs were rare. Even being headhunted, I did not consider it because the company was stable,” he said.
“Boomer mentality—only their generation’s suffering matters.”
The post has since received 300 upvotes and 227 comments.
Numerous users from the younger generation joined the discussion, many of them eager to clarify that they weren’t claiming the job market today is somehow worse than it used to be.
They also told the post author that there really isn’t much point in debating which generation had it tougher because “every generation has its own set of problems.”
One bluntly commented, “Boomer mentality—only their generation’s suffering matters. No matter how much you show things are different, they will firmly believe that they are the most hardworking generation, who succeeded by pulling up their own bootstraps.”
“You can give historical data, Gini coefficients, and comparisons of purchasing power, but all they have is their own anecdotal evidence and zero supporting evidence.”
Another pointed out, “Wow, this feels very much like a ‘last time police wear shorts’ situation. I can’t tell if you’re trying to understand the situation or saying, ‘my times were tougher.’”
“Not sure how relevant comparing to those times is, considering it was a very different environment back then where working hard could get you somewhere. Nowadays, people aren’t just competing with cheap labour, global talents but also AI.”
A few users also questioned why the post author was linking the scarcity of jobs to the rising prices of HDB flats.
“What is the link between scarcity of jobs and the price of HDB? People looking for work do not control the property market,” one wrote.
Another commented, “There’s no link to any of this boomer’s arguments. He just wants to tell the world he suffered, he worked hard, and he made it.”
“So the soft generation now should be able to do so. Because he managed it. Typical boomer. ‘During my time, I walked 50km to school; nowadays these whippersnappers can’t even walk 1km.’”
Despite the backlash the man received, a small number of users stepped in to defend his perspective. They argued that there are, in fact, plenty of jobs available in the market today; the difficulty lies in securing the right position or landing the job that matches one’s skills and expectations.
Others also suggested that the problem might not only be the job market itself, but also the attitude of younger workers.
One wrote, “I’m a Gen Z, and people in my generation don’t want to suffer to earn more. Once they hear an ounce of difficulty that comes their way, they either try to sidestep it or avoid it if they can. Millennials and Gen X had no problems suffering to earn more; they worked through the 5.5-day work cycle. That’s the difference between the people now and then.”
In other news, a woman has ignited fresh conversation about the intense pressure to settle down in Singapore after sharing how her parents reacted to her best friend’s engagement news.
She wrote on r/sgdatingscene that she was genuinely thrilled for her friend when she first heard the news, and for a brief moment, it was simply a happy milestone worth celebrating. But when she told her family the news, her mood quickly changed as her parents “looked at her as if she were a failure.”
Read more: Singapore woman feels pressured by parents after best friend gets engaged
