SINGAPORE: A Singaporean worker slammed his manager on social media for creating a poor working environment.
In a post on r/SingaporeRaw, a Reddit forum, the worker shared that their manager, who was promoted from an engineering role, doesn’t have much experience leading a team and is unintentionally making things difficult.
One key issue he raised was the manager’s tendency to send emails at odd hours, like 3 am or very early in the morning. He commented, “[It] adds to the unhealthy work culture.
I’ve confronted him about it, and he just laughed it off.”
Moreover, the manager reportedly responds to work emails and messages even when he’s on leave, including during weekends.
While he doesn’t directly tell the team to do the same, this creates unspoken pressure for employees to be available outside of regular hours. “It creates the sense that if the boss is working, why aren’t we?” the worker noted.
The worker also pointed out the lack of proper documentation in the workplace, stating:
“There’s no structure to it—it’s in random Notepad files with no proper naming or formatting, which wastes time and increases the risk of errors.”
Despite providing feedback to the manager several months ago, the worker expressed disappointment that no significant changes have occurred.
“He [just] thanked me and said he’d look into it, but so far, there haven’t been any real improvements. I’ve encouraged my colleagues to voice their concerns, but no one seems willing to speak up,” the worker added.
Additionally, the worker highlighted several other issues affecting the team, such as being expected to handle tasks outside of regular working hours, an overwhelming workload, the pressure to stay alert 24/7 without proper compensation, and a noticeable decline in team morale.
“While I personally enjoy the work because of the exposure I’m getting to niche skills in the tech field, my colleagues are just going through the motions.
The other local engineer has already told me he’s planning to leave once he settles his new house,” the worker went on.
“The two on S Passes are working to support their families here and will leave when they find better opportunities. Everyone seems to be just hanging on for now,” he added.
“Cut your losses and look for another job.”
In the comments section, several Singaporean Redditors suggested if he had already provided feedback to the manager and observed no changes, it might be time for him to consider seeking employment elsewhere.
One Redditor said, “The time and effort it takes to change everything, isn’t it easier to polish your own CV or your own study and find a better job?
If they expect you on call and alert 24 hours a day, I doubt you can change that, as there is only a downside for them.”
Another commented, “So you want to become the manager? Or do you want to train the manager to be a better manager? Lol, cut your losses and look for another job like your colleagues, la.”
Others advised him to simply ignore the issues at hand. One Redditor noted, “Your manager’s behaviour is not within your control. You can only control yourself. Aka, just ignore it.
As for documentation, he doesn’t want to enforce it (like mine); just enforce it on your own.”
Conversely, a few others encouraged him to elevate the issues to higher-ups or bring them up during team meetings.
They advised that discussing the feedback in a group setting could help create consensus on the need for change.
One Redditor added, “I think you will need support from your colleagues to back up your call for change.
If you are voicing alone, your manager may think this is isolated feedback, and since no one else has voiced anything, he will not rock the boat and risk changing things.”
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)