SINGAPORE: A 30-year-old Singaporean man recently shared on social media that he prefers temporary jobs over full-time work because they come with less stress.
In a post on r/askSingapore, a Reddit forum, he explained that after completing his National service, he struggled to figure out what career path to take, trying out various roles such as working at ICA, becoming an auxiliary police officer, and doing short stints in warehouse and admin work.
Throughout these roles, he often felt burdened by different issues, whether it was dealing with hot-tempered colleagues or bosses, the amount of interaction required, confrontational clients and vendors, or simply the pressure of being responsible for others.
“There’s a sense of anxiety of how stagnant I was and what am I going to do in my future. There’s always something that’s made me feel stressed or uneasy whenever I have a job,” he said.
However, things changed when he started taking up short-term contract jobs. In his current temp role, a 3-month admin job, he has found a sense of calm and contentment that he hadn’t experienced before.
“My fellow temp workers, while not really on the same wavelength, they’re not problematic and do their work properly. The supervisors and full timers, also while not the most amazing, are friendly, give us appropriate amount of work and don’t breath down our neck,” he explained.
“Most importantly, the working hours and location from my home, means I can go out of the house at 7.30am, which is something I’m not able to do with my previous jobs. It’s so refreshing to go out when the sun is already out.”
He expressed that the absence of long-term commitment and the simplicity of the work have removed a lot of the stress he used to feel.
He also noted that while others may find the work boring or unbearable—his fellow temp workers are already refusing contract extensions—he feels quite satisfied.
“I’m perfectly content with things and I know this isn’t going to be a long term thing,” he went on. “It feels weird feeling so satisfied when everyone else is feeling and saying that this job sucks. And S$13.5 per hour is also satisfactory for me.”
He then asked others in the community, “Is it weird that I’m completely content with this temp job? Should I be more ambitious?”
“If you have low expenses why not?”
In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors reassured him that there’s nothing wrong with not being overly ambitious or opting out of the traditional rat race, as long as he’s happy and content.
One Redditor responded, “If you have low expenses why not? I envy you! I wouldn’t find taking many temp jobs to have low stress.”
Another commented, “First thing you need to do is to ignore everyone else’s opinion or at best treat as reference or something to consider, not gospel. If you’re happy with where you are, then you do you.”
However, not everyone saw it the same way. Others cautioned that while temporary roles might feel easier in the short term, they don’t provide the long-term financial security, career progression, or benefits like healthcare and retirement savings that full-time positions offer.
One Redditor pointed out, “Yes at 30 it would be considered unusual and extremely unambitious in the Singaporean context to be satisfied with a 13.50/h PT job, especially if you are capable of more.
“I assume this is only possible because you are living at home and depend on family support in some way or another, whether food, utilities or others. It would be hard for you to support a family, which many of your peers would be thinking of.”
Another commented, “I think a lot would depend on the goals you have ahead. Any big ticket items planned, like house or reno? While your pay is sufficient for your current lifestyle, the concern is whether it will gear you for the road ahead.”
“In any case, the dread you face from the jobs previously could be due to the early hours that you required to wake up at, plus the toxic environments, while the current admin job offers you stability, predictable workloads and a nicer working environment.”
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Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)