SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man asked, “Is working life supposed to be this hard?” on the Reddit forum after spending two gruelling years in the fast-paced tech industry.
In his post, he shared that despite being at the early stages of his career, the relentless grind has already taken a toll on him, leaving him feeling completely burnt out.
“I start my commute to work at 8 am and return home between 8 and 10 pm; on occasion, it can be even later,” he said. “I am expected to be responsive 24/7. The only reprieve I get is when I am overseas on holiday.”
Furthermore, he mentioned he dedicates a few hours to various ad-hoc tasks every other weekend.
“After CPF I take home around S$4,000, which I know is a decent salary, so I wonder if I am being too strawberry by complaining?” he asked.
“Maybe I deserve to suffer to earn a decent income. But thinking about continuing to work like this for decades makes me feel hopeless,” he lamented.
“How is that strawberry? It’s 12–14 hours of work”
In the discussion thread, many Singaporean Redditors resonated with his struggles, sharing their own experiences of burnout in high-pressure work environments.
One Redditor shared, “Bro, I’m the same too; I’m a fresh grad in IT taking part-time masters, and my gross pay is 4ish, so I bring back about 3ish, and I’m so burned out.
I sometimes wonder why I’m rushing to take my master’s and maybe a PhD to “increase” my pay. Is life just about working and enjoying a two-week holiday and then returning to work? Is this all I can offer to the world?”
Some assured him he wasn’t being a “strawberry,” emphasizing working 12 to 14 hours a day is far from normal. They pointed out anyone enduring such a gruelling schedule would likely experience burnout.
One Redditor said, “How is that strawberry? It’s 12–14 hours of work. Normal people will also be tired, not including your commuting hours, isn’t it too long?
You should be able to find 8-5/6 pm working hours with the same pay. You are underpaid for the hours you are working.”
Another commented, “It’s not normal to work until 8-10 pm daily. It’s not normal to be on call 24/7. It is not normal to work every other weekend. You’re being paid the same as a retail F&B worker per hour.
Meanwhile, others advised him to either take a break from work or consider resigning from his position.
One Redditor expressed, “Time to look for a new job. If you have to work OT often, it’s a manpower HR problem the company chooses not to fix and then pushes the responsibility to workers to OT. Is that fair?”
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)