‘My salary is high, but…’: Why some Singaporeans still consider leaving their jobs despite higher pay

SINGAPORE: One would expect a high salary to make someone stay at a company in a city as expensive as Singapore, which, by the way, was ranked as the most expensive city even for the most affluent individuals for four consecutive years. But why do some Singaporeans still consider leaving their high-paying jobs?

Changing jobs for fulfilment

In a previous The Independent Singapore report, a Singaporean earning S$7,000 a month asked others on r/CareersSingapore how to stay motivated when a high-paying job supports his lifestyle, but leaves him feeling unfulfilled.

Torn between comfort and purpose, he asked others, wondering whether he should look for growth opportunities within the company, take on side projects, or make his job a stepping stone for something more meaningful. He also asked whether others with a high-paying job like his eventually burnt out and decided the pay wasn’t worth it after all.

Work Life Balance

Another Singaporean, earning S$6,500 a month in his first job out of university, struggled to appreciate being “fortunate” for the extra money he was making when his job took up around 12 hours of his weekdays.

He said he had even felt “slightly jealous” of friends in lower-paying but “much chiller jobs” who can work from home and knock off on time. He, meanwhile, only has time for “dinner, shower, and sleep” when he reaches home.

Seeing his managers having “exponentially less time” as they earned more made him ponder all the more what it truly takes to “climb the corporate ladder.”

Stories like these often surface on Singapore forums and eventually make their way into headlines, perhaps because the dilemma is familiar to many. While many may be vying for higher pay, many are also finding that it’s not all about the pay after all.

In Jobstreet by SEEK’s latest Workplace Happiness Index, which looked at key pressure points workers face — burnout, limited progression, and uneven access to opportunity — Singapore ranked second-lowest in workplace happiness. Notably, nearly half (45%) said they felt burnt out or exhausted by their jobs.

JobStreet by SEEK’s Singapore Managing Director Esther Lee said the survey suggests that “Singapore’s workers are not disengaged or unmotivated, but rather feeling stretched and undervalued”. /TISG

Read also: 43-year-old burnt-out Singapore man considers ‘stepping down’ to a more manageable job after paying off HDB