SINGAPORE: A Singaporean recently singled out healthcare, F&B, and hospitality as the worst industries to work in Singapore.
“In your opinion, what is the worst industry to work in?” the Singaporean opened a thread on Reddit, Wednesday (Jan 24). “For me, I think it may be healthcare where people are frequently overworked and burnt out. I know F&B and hospitality are pretty bad too. What about you? Share your experiences.”
Many others gathered their top “worst” industries and why they believe so. Many cited a lack of job security, being overworked, underpaid, and burnout as their bases.
F&B: Long hours and “no respect”
The majority agreed with the writer’s top picks, with one saying, “F&B, long hours, low pay, no prospects, no respect. (When customers are) happy, (they) won’t tell anyone. But if (they are) not happy, (they) will make sure people in Antarctica know.
Take photos and shame servers online. (At the) end of the day legs develop problems, chef(s) (have) high blood pressure, hair loss from wearing head gear every day.”
Healthcare: “Unreasonable” demands and heavy workload
Another wrote, “Healthcare. From the standpoint of a graduating nursing student, I have had enough of being ‘abused’ by patients and families due to their unreasonable demands on top of the heavy workload and shortage of manpower.
I appreciate the nurses here who are willing to do this for such a low pay. But for the sake of my own health, I am either getting out of Singapore to do nursing like many other local nurses or quitting nursing for good.”
Life sciences and construction: Caught in a rat race
A few others named other industries, with one singling out the life sciences industry.
“There’s no job security (cause the whole society is basically based on funding),” the user wrote.
“and your salary trajectory is…sad. The only way to get out of it is to go into management but these positions are full of PhD holders trying to fight you for it.
It’s like you’re forced to study for a PhD if you want to earn more but once you graduate you realise that there’s basically 100 more of you in the same field and that 100 of you are all trying to fight for the same fund to start their lab.”
Another shared, “Architecture. Pretty much anything in the Construction/Built Environment industry… unless you work for the land developer (maybe).
The industry is very, very sensitive to market changes. First to retrench; last to rehire. Bosses inadvertently over-promise – they have to compete with other firms in terms of fee, time, prestige, and product.
‘Competitions’ are held to gather the best ideas and the ‘prize’ is not even enough to cover the cost of work. If you don’t win, your ideas can be used by the winner and show up in the building.”
Concern for the future
Given these answers and many more shared in the comments section, one online user thought:
“With all those answers, it makes you wonder what industries are good to work in Singapore, outside of tech, finance and management. And tech has been facing massive layoffs recently.”
Industries challenging the status quo
However, in recent news, certain companies seem to be making drastic moves to revolutionise their industries. For instance, Westpoint Transit, a bus company, caught the attention of many with their job offer for bus drivers.
Offering a S$5,000 salary with an S$10,000 bonus, the company successfully attracted many applicants, including office workers and university degree holders.
According to the business development director, the company aims to break the stigma of the bus driving profession being a mediocre-paying one by offering a starting pay that can go head-to-head with what other industries offer.
Read related: S$5K salary + S$10K bonus: Bus driver job attracts office workers and university degree holders