SINGAPORE: A Singaporean worker thought she was making the right move when she left her previous job for what seemed like a great opportunity. But six months in, she realised the job was nothing like what was promised.
Frustrated, she turned to r/askSingapore to share her experience. She wrote, “Well within the first month of me coming on board, there were talks of redundancies/pay cuts/hiring freeze, no bonus etc. Now it’s official.”
“On top of that, there is literally no work for me to do… it’s been more than six months. I went back to check old emails and the job description, and the role advertised was telling a different story,” she added.
She wondered how the hiring managers could have been unaware of the upcoming cuts before bringing her on board. If they still needed someone, she argued, they should have offered a contract position instead of a permanent role.
“I feel cheated. No bonus, no pay increment, even though I am within the cycle to receive it,” she continued. “There is no future here, period; in fact, I might be a sinking ship. Is this even ethical? Has anyone had a similar experience?”
‘What is stopping you from searching for more jobs while someone is paying you to do so?’
In the comments, many Redditors shared their own experiences with misleading job descriptions.
One Redditor wrote, “In almost every job I’ve had, the job description was a lie. I even had one job where they told me over email that it was normal weekday office hours, only for them to later reveal after I joined the company that I had to work on weekends.
“Yes, it is unethical, but it’s not illegal as far as I know. What else can you do but find another job?”
Another shared, “I had a job where the boss told me it was a hybrid position and I could WFH on some days, but after I joined, he changed tune and told me I had to be in the office before everybody else every day, and also freaked out when I requested to WFH one day.”
A third asked, “So hold on… You’re doing almost nothing and getting paid for 6 months now? What is stopping you from searching for more jobs while someone is paying you to do so?”
A fourth advised her, “In your resume, put down what you should have been doing (the advertised JD), while taking the time at work, if you can, to educate yourself on relevant knowledge for your jobscope. Your future workplace does not need to know you did nothing, and you should use the time you are given at work wisely.”
In other news, a Singaporean went on Reddit to ask whether disclosing his below-market salary could put him at a disadvantage in salary negotiations and if inflating the figure would be a better strategy.
In his post on r/askSingapore, he explained that he was preparing for a walk-in interview, and the company required him to complete a registration form. One section of the form asked for his “Current Salary (Required)” and “Expected Salary (Required)”, which left him feeling uncertain about how to respond.
“I know it’s in my best interest not to disclose my current pay, but would not disclosing it in a section that says ‘(Required)’ put me at a disadvantage at all?” he asked.