Hot Take: Is a 44-hour work week too much? Either way, suffering ‘more’ is not the flex you think it is
“How am I supposed to get anything done or live this way for the next 40+ years of my life?” asked a junior employee in a Reddit post that went viral this week.
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
We’ve all vented about our workload to colleagues every now and then.
One might even argue that it is part of the bonding experience with fellow workers while in the proverbial trenches together. After all, misery loves company.
But take such rants to random strangers online, and be prepared to receive a lot less empathy or solidarity. You may even come out of it feeling worse.
Such was the case when a junior employee on March 17 took to online forum Reddit to express frustrations about Singapore’s work culture.
Having just started their first full-time job, they described their many struggles in coping with their new routine, including waking up at 5.45am each day to get to the office by 7.30am, long periods spent commuting amid rush hour, and finding themselves left with little time and energy to “do anything” after hours.
“How am I supposed to get anything done or live this way for the next 40+ years of my life?” they asked. “Is this just the Singaporean way of life?”
STRAWBERRY SOFTNESS?
Some were immediately empathetic, agreeing that such a life is indeed unsustainable — even unacceptable.
Unfortunately, this group conceded, it is a harsh reality that is difficult to escape from no matter how much they’d want to. Like that lor.
On the other hand, another faction of responders essentially told the Redditor to suck it up.
These netizens — likely of the older variety, seeing how they were more commonly found in the Facebook comment sections than on Reddit or Instagram — insisted that others had it much worse.
Or how much longer hours they used to work ‘back in the day’. Or how much longer hours they still do today.
“100 per cent confirm it’s the whiny Gen Zs,” read one dismissive comment referring to the original poster’s plight.
NOT A COMPETITION
Is the status quo in urgent need of a change? Or should the workers of today roll over and silently accept their fate just because their forefathers did?
Regardless, what the two camps of opinion implicitly agree upon is this: Generally, Singaporeans are spending a lot of time in the workplace.
Sure, our average number of work hours per week have marginally decreased over the years, from 44.7 hours in 2017 to 44.3 in 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Manpower.
We might be working shorter hours than some economies (think China’s notoriously demanding 996 work culture — 9am to 9pm, six days a week).
But it is also a fact that we are still working longer hours than many other countries — the global average across developed countries is around 36 hours per week, reports the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
But since we can all agree that we spend the bulk of our time working over anything else, why tear down those who express reasonable concern about the demands, expectations, and repercussions of such a culture?
To the older and more experienced among us who have had to slog for long hours and yet managed to create some semblance of a life outside work, kudos to you.
Such resilience is commendable. But at the same time, dismissing the concerns of younger ones new to the working world does little to help them.
Neither does it do anything to heal one’s own unrealised or unresolved trauma from being worked to the bone and beyond by one’s employers or life circumstances.
For the younger ones, the apprehension and culture shock you may experience when adjusting to the new and sometimes brutal realities of the working world is definitely understandable and acceptable.
However, it is true that many Singaporeans have figured (or are slowly figuring) out a way to find their own balance between work and other aspects of life.
Give yourselves some time. With some experience, and a little luck, it is possible for each of us to discover our own tricks and hacks to eke out a similar balance.
WORKING TOGETHER FOR BETTER
Bottom line: As it is right now, a 44-hour work week is the card we are dealt with in Singapore.
More forgiving working hours in pursuit of a better quality of life is a worthy aspiration for many. Amid the many challenges at hand, including plunging birth rates and an ageing population, it may even be an ideal that all of society ought to strive towards.
Post-Covid, the push for hybrid work and flexible hours have also set the wheels of change in motion, encouraging employers and employees alike to think outside the box of how many hours worked and when.
Even so, considering how long it typically takes to make large-scale changes — providing financial support for the retrenched, for example — it might take a while to become reality.
In the meantime, it may be more worthwhile to refrain from turning public discussions on the subject into “Suffering Olympics” — a never-ending, ultimately unproductive competition of “Who has it worse?” At the end of the day, don’t we all deserve better?
In response to the Redditor’s original post, a small group of netizens chose not to compete but to offer sound counsel instead, chiming in with suggestions for reducing the job-starter’s commuting requirements and more.
One can always find company in misery — but surely it would be better to avoid misery altogether.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Taufiq Zalizan is a senior journalist at TODAY covering the business, manpower, transport and court beats.
