‘I cannot keep doing this’: 24 y/o Singaporean says dream job has pushed her to the brink of burnout

SINGAPORE: A 24-year-old Singaporean has sparked discussion online after revealing that her dream job has pushed her to the edge of physical and mental collapse — reigniting concerns over burnout, freelance exploitation, and always-on work culture among young workers.

In a post on the r/singaporejobs forum titled “I’m so burnt out,” the fresh graduate, employed as a freelance “assistant manager of sorts” in an industry she is passionate about, said she is now “this close to having a breakdown.”

Recounting her experience, she said the role “genuinely started okay,” with a few manageable projects she could handle independently. Months later, however, the workload spiralled.

She claimed her superiors began leaving her to run things entirely alone, with responsibilities far beyond what her freelance salary justified. In effect, she said, she was clocking full-time hours without full-time pay, benefits, or protection.

The pressure intensified off-hours. She described being inundated with WhatsApp messages around the clock, with “expectations to do everything and respond to everything immediately.”

Moreover, her boss ordered her to work in the office multiple times a week, forcing her to endure a gruelling two-hour commute that further depleted her energy and erased any remaining work-life balance.

“I had to fight for pockets of time to keep my hobbies,” she wrote. “My mental health keeps declining, and all I want to do is take a BREAK, but I'm already working in my dream industry, and all my other options are nonexistent in this country. I'm so unhappy. I cannot keep doing this.”

She added, “I try to rationalise that I'm at least not unemployed and desperate as I was one year ago. But it doesn't feel f**king better. Even if there is money, I feel like I'm actively losing myself. I had such big dreams, and they feel so far away from me now because I can't escape this thing I put myself in.”

Feeling increasingly overwhelmed by her workload and unable to see a way out, she asked netizens: “What do I do? I can't leave my job. I still have projects to finish, and I have a headache.”

In the comments, one Singaporean Redditor shared that they had gone through a similar experience.

They wrote: “I was in the same situation back in Sep. Got laid off back in June and got hired into an agency role. It sucked so bad that I resigned just after 1 week. Because of the work, I felt so unhappy; I come home every day doomscrolling myself to sleep. (Used to run after work for years). Lucky to find a new job just after 1 month; I felt so alive again.”

Another commenter remarked: “10000% it is a SME.”

A third user encouraged her to consider what mattered more to her in the long run: “Is it money or your health?” /TISG

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