SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man earning between S$10,000 and S$13,000 a month took to Reddit to ask whether he should give up his stress-free job in favour of higher pay and better career progression.
In a post on the r/singaporefi forum, he provided details about his current job. “I’m in the buy-side investment world. It is fully WFH; the boss is overseas-based and never asks for many deliverables and agrees with almost everything I want to do and my investment calls. I’m super relaxed and not stressed a single bit.”
“I have a good relationship with my boss, who is the owner. The downside is increments, bonuses, and progression are basically nonexistent.”
With his experience and qualifications, he said he believes he could find a position paying between S$18,000 and S$22,000 a month. However, he is concerned about the increased stress, workload, office politics, and commuting that may come with a higher-paying role.
Financially, he and his wife are in a comfortable position.
“My wife and I don’t spend much relative to what we earn and have a very small loan on our private property, which, if I wanted, I could just pay off now. The only thing is we are going to have a child, but we have also budgeted for it already.”
Looking for guidance from those with experience, he asked Redditors, “Those that climbed the corporate ladder and are now in your 40s and 50s or even retired, was the stress worth it? Also, if you could take at least the first year to have a chill work life with your newborn (aka continue my job and not progress for another year), would you do it?”
“You’re in a very comfortable and fortunate situation.”
In the comments, most Singaporean Redditors advised the post author to stay where he is, pointing out that he is already in a rather enviable position.
Many felt that earning a five-figure monthly salary while working from home and dealing with very little stress is not something most people get to enjoy, and that it would be unwise to give that up.
One said, “S$10-$13k/month at 30 is decent. Time with your kids and family will never be reversible, and you will miss out on all the precious milestones of theirs during their growing up. Chasing money will never be enough. Mental health and work stress take us away from being present to our kids and loved ones. Don’t follow the societal norms.”
Another wrote, “It blows my mind how someone who is drawing above S$10k a month is asking for more work instead of wanting to cruise.”
A third added, “Cruise and make family your top priority. You’re in a very comfortable and fortunate situation.”
On the other hand, a few commenters encouraged him to go all in and maximise his earning potential while he is still relatively young. One said, “It’s a good switch to get S$18k to 20k. And in a few years, you can hit S$30k a month. All within 5 years. Do it.”
Another agreed, writing, “Get higher pay then; nowadays five figures monthly is not even much considering expenses and cost of living.”
A third, meanwhile, suggested that he speak to his boss first. “If you are that underpaid, speak with the boss first about it before jumping ship. If he’s not willing to bring you up to market rate or a timeline that gets there, then it’s time to move on.”
In other news, a rather fiery debate has erupted on Reddit over whether foreigners should be expected to speak Mandarin to work in Singapore.
The discussion began after a user shared a Threads post in which a man angrily questioned why his brother, offered a dentist job in Singapore, was being forced to learn some Mandarin.
He wrote, “My brother was offered a job as a dentist in Singapore but was told he would need to learn a bit of Mandarin, as English and Malay alone would not be sufficient.”
Read more: Malaysian questions why his brother needs to learn Mandarin for dentist role in Singapore
