Finance professional earning S$4-5k/month says boss keeps dumping projects on them but still won’t promote them

SINGAPORE: A finance professional earning S$4,000 to S$5,000 a month says they’re caught in a no-win situation at work, claiming their boss keeps piling on extra projects but still refuses to promote them.

In a post on the r/SingaporeR subreddit, the worker said their boss frequently asks them to handle additional projects, including tasks that would normally be the boss’s responsibility, insisting it’s necessary if they want to climb the corporate ladder.

Instead of bringing them any closer to a promotion, however, the extra workload has left them mentally drained.

“Often, he will throw his work at me. I do the projects or extra stuff, or do his work for him, and feel tired. Then, because of mental fatigue, I make some mistakes in my daily work.”

“During appraisal, he will say although I did project for him, I made mistake at daily work. So can’t justify promotion for me.”

“But if I don’t do project for him, just focus on daily work, I also won’t get promoted because he will say I didn’t do extra stuff, can’t justify promotion. So in the end, I’m stuck at my current rank. Even though I did so much extra work for him. Earning in the S$4-5k range a month currently. Slow increments like S$200-300 every year only.”

The worker also shared that seeing people around the same age in the tech industry earning far more despite having fewer years of experience has affected him.

“When I hear people around my age in tech earning S$6-7k with just 1-2 years of experience or some earning S$10-12k after a successful job hop, I seriously feel frustrated. I really hate people in tech.”

Turned to investing to make up for stagnant pay

Feeling that their salary is no longer enough to build the future they want, the worker said they’ve started relying more on investing and trading. 

“Basically, let’s just say my portfolio value is way more huge and abnormal compared to my salary.”

“But I still feel resentful, because investing or trading is uncertain and unstable; in good periods you can earn well, but in bad periods you can also lose big, but people that earn a high salary in tech, for example, they can just DCA or lump-sum invest in big-cap stocks and focus on earning their high salary rather than managing their investments.”

“Their stock holdings naturally will go up as long as they just follow and buy the mainstream stocks. They are ok with lower percentage gains because they can invest more money with their high salary.”

At the end of his post, he asked, “I just wanted to know if anyone else also feels similar to me?”

‘Hang in there!’

In the Reddit thread, one user advised them to “start a side hustle and quiet quit.”

Another said they had gone through almost the exact same experience.

 “I was in the company for 7 years without a single promotion because of the same reasons. Been searching for a job since my 3rd year there, and finally found one and left. But good job on that investment portfolio!” 

“I know people who earn wayyyy more than you but are not savvy enough to invest. And they squander their money away because the money sitting in their bank account creates too much temptations to spend frivolously.”

A third commenter reassured the worker that they were far from alone.

“You’re not the only one. Generally, if the department is affected by restructuring or has a very flat structure, gaining visibility for promotion is challenging. Nonetheless, hang in there! Hope a good opportunity comes to you soon!”

In other news, a woman has turned to social media for advice after finding herself stuck in property limbo, with her former partner refusing to sell the private condominium they jointly own.

In her post, she explained that they “were never married” and had simply purchased the property together under a joint tenancy arrangement while they were still in a relationship.

Read more: Singapore woman seeks advice after ex repeatedly rejects offers for shared condominium