‘Is life in Singapore still worth the grind?’: Singaporean wonders whether the level of competition and pressure in SG is becoming a bit much

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean online has wondered whether the level of competition and pressure in the city-state is becoming “a bit much” as he shared his observations about the job market becoming more challenging for locals. This made him question: “Is life in Singapore still worth the grind?”

In a post on r/SingaporeRaw, he shared, “Maybe it’s just the conversations I’ve been having lately, but it feels like the job market has become really rough.”

According to him, besides layoffs over the past few months, there have also been stories of fresh graduates and young professionals with one or two years of experience barely getting interviews despite sending out hundreds of applications.

“A lot of them aren’t being picky either. They’re genuinely trying to find work and get started,” he said, adding that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has made things “even crazier”.

Now that it has become much easier to mass apply to job openings, with job posts on LinkedIn getting over 100 applicants in a short period of time, he said that, as an applicant and as an observer, the figure easily becomes “pretty disheartening”.

“Then you hear comments about ‘lower-value human capital’ and it makes you wonder where things are headed,” he added. The phrase was used by Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters in reference to employees affected by the bank’s restructuring amid AI adoption, drawing criticism from some netizens who called it “unbelievably cruel language”.

Read also: Former Singapore president blasts StanChart CEO for calling workers ‘lower-value human capital’

Concerned about what this may mean moving forward, he asked: “If companies are becoming more selective while technology is making some work easier to automate, what does that mean for people just entering the workforce?…How will all this shape people’s longer-term plans?”

He also asked other Singaporeans: “Are you still optimistic about building a life here, or have you started looking overseas for opportunities, affordability, work-life balance, or simply a different pace of life?”

The post sparked discussion among commenters who weighed in on the pressures of working life in Singapore. Someone in his 40s shared he feels “a lot of fear” as a farmer merely struggling by, while another said, “sooner or later you and I would have to work and live elsewhere.”

Others, meanwhile, noted that Singapore is only great for singles with no dependents. Some also said they have observed more Singaporeans now leveraging family wealth instead of working hard to climb the ladder.

One commenter, however, pointed out that it’s all about the math. “By retirement, you should be able to live off the interest from all your wealth. If you can’t see yourself hitting that goal, then life in Singapore really isn’t worth it.” /TISG

Read also: Jobseeker shares employer he interviewed with specifically looked for ‘job hoppers’