SINGAPORE: Loyalty to one company used to be considered a virtue in Singapore’s corporate culture, but one local man’s story is challenging that notion. Two years after being retrenched, he says he has doubled his salary by doing something many career advisers warn against: job hopping.
The man shared his experience on the r/askSingapore subreddit on Saturday (Jan 3), revealing that he now frequently switches jobs, sometimes staying in a role for less than eight months.
Far from harming his career, he says the moves have opened doors and accelerated his professional growth.
“People say it will be harder to find a job, as you don’t look reliable. To be honest, that isn’t true. All the experience has actually allowed me to land interviews easier than before. When they ask why I’m leaving after such a short time, I already have a very good answer primed.”
He continued, “I’ve also noticed people on this Reddit saying they work for HR, and this is a red flag on a CV. Well, for me, the HR recruiters love me and don’t seem to care. To note, I only apply for large companies; maybe Singaporean SMEs might have a different mindset.”
He also revealed that his attitude toward work had not always been this way. In the past, he prided himself on his loyalty, often staying with each company for at least four years and giving his all to every role he held. He believed that dedication and consistency would eventually be rewarded.
Back then, however, salary increases were modest, typically ranging from just one to five per cent a year. While he accepted this as the norm at the time, it was never a source of real frustration—until everything changed in 2023.
That year, he was laid off when his company abruptly shut down most of its Singapore operations.
“We were told on the day itself to leave the office (scared of us messing with the code as revenge). We were paid our notice in lieu. This made me realise no matter how hard you work, you are dispensable to the company.”
“It took me 4 months to find a new job. It was a super stressful time. Thousands of applicants for every role, so many interviews, and failing at the last stage.”
When he finally secured a new position, he admitted that he no longer felt any sense of loyalty after the “trauma” he had experienced.
Although he continued to give his best at the job, he devoted much of his free time to searching for new opportunities on LinkedIn.
“Every day I was on LinkedIn applying for other jobs,” he said. “3 months in managed to net one with a 60% pay increase. The company tried to guilt trip me for leaving, saying, ‘We worked so hard to bring you in.’ But I honestly do not care and have no sympathy for them. The hiring manager was a great person, but if there were layoffs, would she even care for me?”
Seeking perspectives, he asked other Singaporeans, “As we go into a new year and we have been treated like crap by the corporate world, is job hopping such a bad thing? I feel like this is the new reality of surviving in an ever more ruthless market.”
“To me, job hopping every year is a red flag.”
The post quickly sparked a spirited discussion among Singaporean Redditors, with opinions divided on whether frequent job-hopping is a smart career move or a risky decision.
One Redditor shared, “The only loyalty you should have is to yourself and the people you’re feeding. If you died today, they would post a job vacancy ad before the wreath they ordered reached your funeral. Always be looking.”
Another shared their own experience, writing, “I hopped every 1 to 2 years, and employers asked about it every interview, but I ended up with my ideal offers every time anyway. It’s not bad. You are only loyal to yourself. I learned it the hard way when I got my first layoff.”
A third, however, reminded others to consider the company’s perspective: “Put yourself in the company’s shoes lol. Spend money and time training you for you to leave in 6 months? Job hopping is not inherently bad. But do it often enough, and it’s a big red flag.”
A fourth commenter added, “To me, job hopping every year is a red flag. I’m a hiring manager. If I don’t see any single instance of staying for 2-3 years at least, I’ll pass, as there are too many applicants. I don’t believe one can learn enough about a company and how it works in a year.”
In other news, a man has turned to social media after discovering that his elderly relative, a woman in her 70s who has a walking disability, has no CPF savings.
In a post shared on the r/askSingapore subreddit on Friday (Jan 2), he revealed that his relative has been working full-time at the same small shop in the heartlands for over 50 years, earning less than S$1,000 a month.
