‘Insane to manage’: Singaporean says workload becomes unbearable after half his team is laid off

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean tech worker says his workload has become “insane to manage” after a company restructuring cut his team from six employees to just three, with the remaining workers now putting in extra hours to keep up.

Posting on the r/singaporejobs subreddit, the man explained that he and his remaining colleagues have been forced to give up their weekends and after-hours time just to keep up with deliverables.

“Ever since the restructuring, I and my team have been finding the workload insane to manage,” he said. “I’m finding this to be unsustainable in the long run.”

With a year-end review and bonus payout coming up in December, he said he was considering requesting a 20% raise to reflect the heavier load and then possibly beginning his job search early next year.

Unsure whether the plan was wise, he asked others “if this is a good idea or if I may face any resistance/ criticism along the way due to this strategy?”

‘Just manage your expectations’

In the comments, one Reddit user who said they work in HR advised him to think carefully before asking for a 20% increase.

“Doing the work of 6 people with 3 is rough, and I get why you want something back for it,” the user wrote.

“But I’d think twice about asking for 20%. Most of the time when a company cuts half a team, it’s because they want to save on costs. Asking for a big raise a few months later goes against the whole reason they did it, so expect some pushback.”

Another commenter shared, “I tried asking before, then my manager just told me if they had the budget for that, they wouldn’t need to restructure in the first place.”

A third, however, said he can try. “You can always ask. Just manage your expectations. I would rather have a proper talk with management about the situation first.”

On the other hand, some suggested that he either focus on high-visibility projects and do the bare minimum on lower-priority tasks or deliberately let some tasks fall behind to show management that three people cannot realistically handle the workload of six.

One user wrote, “I’m a tech lead, and if my guys are overworked to the point that their weekends are affected, I'd let some of the items fail to prove a point to the management. Keeping the lights on at the expense of your weekends should not be the norm, and the management won't see the issue until something breaks.”

Another reminded him, “Remember, we are tech workers. We’re not doctors, cooks, teachers, etc. Our only purpose is to suck an income out of our companies for as long as possible to set us and our families up for better futures.”

In other news, a Singaporean who was terminated just three months into a new job is now worried about how the abrupt departure could affect his chances of landing another role, particularly if it comes up during a background check.

On Wednesday (Sep 23), the man posted on the r/singaporejobs subreddit, saying he was told by his bosses that his employment would end with immediate effect, although the company would pay him in lieu of his notice period.

Read more: Singaporean terminated after 3 months worries what former employer will say during background check