‘You get to decide if you stay down or try again’ — Laid off SG woman once earning S$10K/month, finds fresh start with TADA

SINGAPORE: After a near-death experience from a ruptured appendix in 2015 and being laid off from her corporate job of 10 years shortly after, 43-year-old Yang Baoli struggled to find a job for six months.

Previously, earning a monthly salary of S$10,000 even made her job search more difficult. Despite actively applying for roles across the public, government, and private sectors and her willingness to take a pay cut, she only received blunt responses that they couldn’t match her previous salary and implied she wouldn’t stay long.

She told The Independent Singapore that HRs would tell her to “look elsewhere” instead of “wasting their time”.

“It was a deeply challenging period, not just professionally but personally,” Ms Yang said, sharing how she had to juggle mortgage payments and bills while feeling lost and discouraged.

With few options left, she decided to get a taxi licence and is now working as a TADA driver.

Ms Yang said the biggest blessing she got from entering the gig economy was the flexibility to look after her elderly parents.

While she’s not earning as much as her previous job, she said she makes enough to support her family, enjoys working at her pace, and doesn’t need to work long hours. She also shared that simple conversations she had with her passengers allowed her to sometimes share her story and encourage them as well.

Many Singaporeans have been turning to the gig economy to fill long periods of unemployment, some taking on delivery gigs or giving tuition. While many tapped into upskilling through their SkillsFuture credits, many still reported difficulty landing a job.

In May, Jobstreet reported that 42% of Singapore employers are planning to expand their permanent headcount in the first half of 2025. However, a recent report from Indeed stated that job postings fell for the fourth straight month in April—though levels remain above pre-pandemic figures.

Ms Yang advised those facing similar struggles: “Never stop learning and never be afraid to start again.”

She said, “Take a new licence, take a new course. Sometimes, it’s in the trying and even failing to discover your true strengths and passions.”

To her, success is defined not by title or salary, but by how far one has come.

“No matter how high you once were, life can knock you down but you get to decide if you will continue to stay down or to get back up and try again,” she added. /TISG

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