a man sitting at a desk using a laptop computer
‘The faster I work, the more work I get’: Singapore employee questions workplace after colleague’s promotion
SINGAPORE: Like the joke that’s been going around, is the reward for being efficient in corporate really just more work? No promotions or salary bumps? Not even a single praise?
Recently, one Singaporean realised this after his colleague, who finishes his tasks at a much slower pace, got promoted instead of him.
Posting his story on the r/singaporejobs subreddit, the man explained that he works at a government-linked company (GLC), where his tech team consists of just two people: himself and his manager. The problem, as he describes it, is that his manager isn't “technical” and therefore “doesn't really know how long tasks should take.”
Because the man is “naturally quite fast,” his manager tends to assume he's “more free” than he actually is.
The consequences followed predictably. Whenever a colleague from another team claimed to be “overloaded,” more work would be redirected to him, even when he was already stretched thin. Rather than push back, the man said he typically kept quiet, gritted his teeth, and absorbed the extra load.
Curious, he recently asked that colleague what he was actually working on. The answer stunned him: the colleague admitted he's “apparently been chilling” and has largely been faking how busy he is.
“He [the colleague] told me he usually gives estimates around 3x longer than what he actually needs. Eventually, my manager passes most of those tasks to me because he can’t wait that long.”
Then came an even harder blow. His manager told him the colleague had been promoted because "his tasks seem more difficult since they take him much longer."
“My colleague got promoted earlier than me…Meanwhile, my manager gives me difficult tasks and asks if I can finish them the next day because I usually can, so to him they seem relatively simple.”
So now he's been wondering: should he deliberately slow down and give longer estimates, or continue working normally and accept that he'll keep getting more work?
“I don’t want to play the same games, but it feels like I’m being punished for being efficient.”
‘You should literally complain more often.’
The post drew a range of responses, with some Redditors suggesting that the employee's biggest problem may be the way his manager perceives his workload.
One commenter argued that if the manager could not distinguish between the difficulty of tasks and the amount of time different employees took to complete them, the employee should not expect the situation to change on its own.
“This goes to show your manager is clueless, and that is not going to change,” they wrote. “Either you play the standard corporate game to give longer delivery time and chill, or you look for a new job. Chances that you find another place will be the same. Rarely do you find companies that appreciate your efficiency.”
Another Redditor thought the employee needed to make more noise about the work he was doing rather than quietly absorbing additional tasks.
“You should literally complain more often to him about how difficult the task he gave you is, how much effort it takes to do it, hint to him that you can do it fast because you are good, hint to him that he should reward you, make comparisons, etc.,” they wrote.
“You know you are good, or you did better work than your colleague. All you need to do is to fix your boss' understanding.”
Newsletter
Get updates straight to your inbox
Others advised him to follow in his colleague's footsteps; otherwise he might end up doing more for… literally nothing.
One said, “Your colleague is not wrong. It’s a good skill to learn. You never really know how long a task might take even though it’s a repeat”
Another added, “Try to test the waters first and see what your manager's response is. At the same time, you can start looking for new opportunities.”
In other news, a Singaporean father has aired his frustration on Reddit after his parents demanded compensation for caring for their grandchild, even floating the idea that he should pay for their holiday in return.
Posting under the title "Transactional parents" on the r/asksg forum, the man said his parents—who only see the child once or twice a week and are not his regular caregiver—had agreed to watch him for a few days while he and his wife travelled overseas, but wanted to be “compensated” for it.