Staff who says he’s working in ‘toxic work culture’ asks if ‘6 months too soon to quit job?’

SINGAPORE — A staff who says he has been working in a government agency only for six months was “crowdsourcing reality checks and words of wisdom” on r/askSingapore on Monday (Feb 6). He wondered if it was too soon to quit and look for another job.

He explained that while he was hired for a one-year project, there has been “ZERO progress, not because I haven’t been doing anything but because management keeps changing direction.”

The staff also wrote that he feels frustrated and has begun to look for new job opportunities but wonders if this would “look bad” if he quits halfway into the project, especially since the team he’s in has become quite stretched as other people have already resigned.

“For my mental health, I really need to leave, but I feel bad for my RO” (supervisor), he added.

He ended by editing his post to add, “I suppose what is also pushing me out the door is the toxic work culture. Won’t go into details but some of the horror stories I’ve heard and witnessed in 6 months really scares me (e.g., asking a pregnant woman what she could contribute to the department when she’s away on maternity).”

Many commenters on the post offered him advice, with one urging him to stick it out.

“The value of a public service job is (to) understand the inner working, the thinking style and how they make decisions. Once you find a pattern, you can emulate their thinking pattern and anticipate what they going to do next –> this will be a valuable selling point if you decided to switch to private sector (See Tin Pei Ling). Overall, I think you should enjoy the journey. I presume they are paying you well and you should just enjoy the journey while you can. All the best to you!”

“I find 6 months to be too short to job hop (I’m a millennial, not Gen z) unless it’s something so drastic such as company is fraudulent or your mental health suffering,” opined another.

Others, however, encouraged him to go for it and find another job.

“Nah, 99.9% of sinkies are always eyeing a better work opportunity anyway. If you feel frustrated and find something better for you, jump away.”

Conventional wisdom used to be that people needed to stay in a job even if they disliked it for at least one year for the sake of their resume. However, it may longer be the case in recent times. /TISG

Man quit his first job after 8 months, asks if quitting his second job less than a year in will affect him