‘He’s been unemployed for 2 years’: Singaporean seeks advice for father struggling to get interviews at age 50

SINGAPORE: Watching a parent slowly lose their sense of purpose after being out of work for a long time is never easy. It’s heartbreaking, to say the least.

Recently, a Singaporean who seems to be running out of options turned to social media to ask how they might help their father get back on his feet and find work again.

In a post on the r/asksg forum, the writer shared that their father, who is turning 50 this year, has been unemployed for about two years and has had little success securing even interviews.

They suggested that his age, along with the current hiring climate, may be working against him despite his years of experience.

According to the post, the father previously held “generalist roles in the government sector” at the deputy director level, with a background spanning “operations, policy work, and managing teams and projects.”

Currently, the family is trying to explore what realistic paths are still available to him at this stage of his career.

“We’re trying to explore what options he might still have at this stage. Would roles like contract work, consulting, or moving to adjacent sectors be more realistic?” they asked

“He’s a bit hesitant about switching industries since he’s been in the public sector for a long time, but we’re open to ideas.”

“Find contractual-based project management roles.”

In the comments, one Singaporean Redditor said, “Mid-career is rough now even for good people, man. I’ve seen ex-director-level folks do contract ops or project roles just to get back in. Look at temp contracts, government stat boards, or consulting gigs via agencies. Manage expectations on pay and level, too. Age bias is real, and hiring is slow; stuff that took a month now drags for a year. Job hunting now is just pain.”

Another user who said they got retrenched at ages 39 and 61 wrote: “There are opportunities out there. He needs to leverage his contacts, go through WSG, and find an appropriate headhunter/recruiter. Don’t stop looking. I am still working now as a C-level.”

A third commented, “From what I’ve been observing recently, it seems like the majority of the government jobs are being converted to a contractual basis rather than permanent full-time. Maybe you can ask your dad to try and find contract-based project management roles?”

A fourth added, “This is my personal suggestion—work as a consultant to some established SMEs. His skill sets of policy, operational and managing teams and projects could be deployed to manage SMEs that have reached a sizable size who are looking to formalise and modernise their organisation.”

In other news, a 29-year-old woman turned to Reddit to ask if she was “overreacting” for wanting a divorce after feeling that her marriage had slowly fallen apart.

Posting on the r/asksg forum on Sunday (Mar 19), she shared that she and her husband dated for three years and have been married for two.

Read more: ‘Just like housemates’: Wife questions divorce after feeling neglected in marriage