SINGAPORE: One Singaporean has been left questioning whether he’s fallen behind after finding out that nearly all of his friends are earning more than him while also enjoying better work-life balance.
Writing on the r/singaporejobs subreddit, the man shared that he currently earns S$3,800 a month, including CPF contributions, while his friends are bringing home at least S$4,200 in a range of industries.
“All of them are earning at least S$4.2k, ranging from marketing, consulting to process engineer roles. I recently had a conversation with my group of friends, and they all agreed that I was paid too little,” he wrote.
Wondering whether he was simply being underpaid or if this was common for someone relatively new to the workforce, he asked, “I have been working for 2 years, and I am wondering if this is the norm for fresh grads after one year? What is the yearly increment like these days in the market?”
They have better work-life balance
According to him, the salary gap was only part of what made the conversation difficult. He said his friends also enjoyed much healthier working arrangements, with shorter hours, greater flexibility, the option to work from home, and better overall benefits.
By comparison, he said he had been working relentlessly and had become completely burnt out. Although he described his role as requiring “very little brain,” the long hours and relatively low pay had drained his motivation and left him feeling depressed.
“I am officially burnt out and quite depressed. I no longer feel joy in life because I am dissatisfied with the pay and the working hours in my job. I noticed that I lost a lot of weight as well, and I’ve just felt sucked out.”
As if that was not discouraging enough, he also discovered something else that left him feeling misled.
“I only recently found out on my company hierarchy that the initial title was “technician” despite it saying “engineer” on the job posting I applied for.”
Looking back, he said he regretted not pursuing a more competitive university degree.
“I have been desperately taking coding/AI courses for a few months, but I still feel horribly lost and underskilled, like I would never compare to a fresh grad with 4 years of coding experience / one with a more competitive degree.”
“I really feel some regret towards my degree, and I wish I had studied harder and chosen a more general and competitive course like Business/Accounting/Computer Science, etc.”
“Be grateful you have a job”
To make the post author feel better, Singaporean Redditors began sharing their own starting salaries.
One wrote, “16 years ago, I started off as a ‘software engineer’ doing technician work with S$2k. After 1 year, it becomes S$2.2k. Slowly and steadily now S$7.7k.”
Another commented, “Just to give you a perspective. I started working after poly about 2 years ago, while all my friends went to uni. I graduated with a diploma in business and work at a tech company, earning S$2.4k; they raise me to S$4k due to performance. I moved to another company and started earning S$7.5k.”
A third added, “Mine was around S$3.2k–$3.4k after my first year of experience. After my second year, I job-hopped, and my salary increased to S$4.5k.”
Others also encouraged him not to compare himself too closely with his peers.
One told him, “I don’t think it’s helpful to compare across industry and skill set to see if you’re being fairly compensated”
Another said, “S$3.8k per month isn’t low for fresh grad ….be grateful you have a job … job titles are overrated.”
In other news, a Singaporean accountant in her early 20s shared on social media that she has gradually changed her wardrobe and daily routine after allegedly being subjected to inappropriate comments, unwanted attention, and persistent invitations from male colleagues.
In a post on Friday (Jun 19), the woman said she works at a construction SME and earns S$3,600 a month.
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