A man on his way to the office
Man detests corporate life, says he was ‘much happier doing delivery work: 'I’m okay with earning less as long as I have a peace of mind'
SINGAPORE: After setting foot in the corporate world, one Singaporean man realised he detests almost everything about it—from the work and office politics down to the social aspects.
On Monday (Sep 14), the 20-something man took to the r/singaporejobs subreddit to share his thoughts.
In his post, he went into detail about how different and peaceful his life was before working in a multinational corporation.
In his current work, he shared that he earns just under S$4,000 and that, just like any office worker, he spends “8 hours a day, 5 days a week in front of a screen.”
His team holds several meetings, locally and across the regions, in the span of a week, and there are constant streams of “emails, messages, deadlines, discussions, and 1-on-1 conversations/evaluations.”
Even “asking to go on leave,” he noted, made him feel as though he were “still in school.”
Beyond the workload itself, he finds the social demands of corporate life draining.
“Having to make small talk, be enthusiastic, ‘heh-heh ha-ha’ with colleagues, participate in meetings, and generally put on a professional front even when I don’t really feel like it. Sometimes the whole thing feels quite dystopian to me, like, why are we putting up a show?” he wondered.
By contrast, during his delivery days, he earned far less than he does now, yet he recalls being genuinely "much happier."
“Once I finished working, work was completely out of my mind,” he recalled. “There were no emails to check, no meetings to prepare for, no presentations to think about, and no wondering whether I said the right thing in a meeting.”
“I could just cycle around, listen to music, explore different neighbourhoods and decide for myself how I wanted to spend my time. The work itself was tiring physically, but mentally it felt very straightforward.”
“What I miss isn’t necessarily the delivery but the autonomy and mental simplicity. I reported to nobody as everything was done in-app. Damn chill.”
Longing for that simpler life, he asked fellow Singaporeans whether there were any “degree-level jobs with low mental load”" in the city-state that pay at least S$3,500—an amount he estimates he could live off.
“I’m okay with earning less if the trade-off is having more peace of mind. I don't mind putting in more hours as long as it's mentally relaxing.”
“I just dislike the feeling that work occupies my brain even when I’m not at work (like what stuff do I owe who? Recapping what needs to be done or communicated to other stakeholders, etc.), and the expectation to constantly perform a professional persona.”
“I want to be very casual, like talking at the market—that kind of makes sense. Had I known, I wouldn't have gone for a degree and would apply to roles such as at a local cafe near my house.”
‘Give yourself a bit more time’
In the comments, many Singaporean Redditors suggested alternative careers that don't demand much brainpower, such as security guard positions, library work, museum roles, administrative jobs, and manufacturing positions.
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Conversely, a few others told him that low-stress jobs are rare or even non-existent in Singapore.
One told him, “No such thing. Last time S$4k/month job = know how to use Excel and VLOOKUP. Now S$4k/month job needs to know RPA, Copilot integration, OpenCLAW integration, RPA, VBA, Power BI, and statistics with Python and R.”
Another added, “Not to be that person, but this is something you'll have to get used to. All fresh heads go through an adjustment period. It's normal to be anxious and think about all the things you've done (including what could've been done better) and what needs to be done. Give yourself a bit more time. Comfort and rapport with your colleagues / bosseses also take some time to develop.”/TISG