SINGAPORE: One Singaporean worker was utterly shocked when her friend complained about receiving a 17% raise and a 3-month bonus, saying that “it’s a bad year.”
Posting on r/askSingapore, a Reddit forum, on Saturday (Jan 4), she explained that this wasn’t the first time she’d encountered people expressing disappointment over what seemed like generous increments or bonuses.
She noted that even within her own workplace in the banking sector, where the average increment is around 5-7%, and bonuses hover between 1 to 1.2 months, colleagues receiving above-average adjustments still voiced dissatisfaction.
“It seems to be the same story every year. I thought after years of working, one would have a good gauge of what is an average raise and bonus but they always say they are disappointed,” she said.
“I just feel like in Singapore, people are unhappy and unsatisfied no matter how much their pay raise or bonus is and wonder what the reason behind this is,” she added.
Seeking insights from the community, she asked, “Why do most not have realistic expectations?
What would you consider to be a bad or good year in terms of pay raises and bonuses in the context of Singapore? I know that it is industry-specific so feel free to share what you feel is good or bad in your industry.”
“Any increase that beats inflation is good.”
In the thread, several Singaporean Redditors explained that some people aren’t satisfied with their bonuses and raises because they’re always comparing themselves to others who seem to be doing better.
One Redditor pointed out, “People are not happy because they like to compare, just like what you are doing now.
When you like to compare, then as long as you are not number one, you would be unhappy. Even if you’re number one you would probably still be unhappy.”
Others also chimed in to share their views on what they consider to be standard increments and bonuses. One Redditor commented, “3-5 percent is the standard for pay increments unless you get promoted.”
However, another disagreed, pointing out that it varies depending on the industry and the employee’s performance. He added, “The expectations of a consistently top performing employee will be much higher than the average person.
The average person might look at a top performer’s 12 month bonus as ridiculously high, while the top performer will look at it as being low because achieving the same KPIs in previous years received a 20 month bonus.”
A few others mentioned that they’re happy as long as their bonuses and raises help them keep up with the rising cost of living.
One user remarked, “Any increase that beats inflation is good.”
In other news, a fresh graduate recently confessed on social media that his first full-time job at one of the Big 4 accounting firms has already started to affect his mental health.
In his post on Reddit’s ‘Singapore FI’ group on Wednesday (Jan 1), he shared that his working hours have been extremely demanding, often extending into the early hours of the morning.
“Maybe it’s just the year-end but I have been working till 12 and sometimes 1~2ish am… This is normal accountancy hours,” he said.
Read more: Fresh grad earning S$4.1k monthly asks whether he will be able to retire by 50
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
