SINGAPORE: Singapore’s early experience with artificial intelligence (AI) is steadier than alarming. Jobs aren’t disappearing, but work is changing.

A new report from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), released on April 30, finds no sign of widespread job loss linked to AI. Instead, most firms using AI say their workers are getting more done, and roles are being adjusted rather than removed.

According to the report, based on a survey of 2,560 firms employing nearly 500,000 workers, about 70.7% of AI-using firms reported improved productivity. Only 6.2% reported reducing headcount tied to AI use.

Jobs are changing, not vanishing

The data points to a job change: Work is being redesigned, not erased.

About 18.9% of firms said they changed job scopes after adopting AI. Another 13.9% created new AI-linked roles, signalling demand for new skills rather than fewer workers.

Hiring has softened slightly in some areas, with around 8.5% of firms saying AI affected their hiring plans, but the overall direction is that AI is shaping how work is done, not whether it exists. In short, AI is complementing labour, not replacing it.

AI adoption is still uneven across Singapore

Despite the attention around AI, most firms have yet to use it. A striking 71.5% of companies reported no AI adoption at all. Among those that have started, only a small group has integrated it into core operations.

Larger firms are leading the way, with companies with over 500 employees showing adoption rates slightly above 76%, while smaller firms still lag far behind, with adoption below 24%.

Cost and capability remain the main barriers, with smaller firms citing high setup costs and a lack of skilled staff. Bigger firms face a different challenge: fitting AI into existing systems and managing data risks.

AI adoption is highest in communications, professional services, and finance sectors

Where you work now does matter, as AI adoption is highest in sectors already built around digital tools. These include information and communications, professional services, and finance.

Roles in these sectors often involve analysis, coding, or data work, as these tasks are easier to support with AI tools.

On the other end, sectors like retail and food and beverage are slower to adopt due to many of the tasks there involve physical service or direct customer interaction, which AI cannot easily replace.

Higher-skilled workers feel the change in work first

The report shows a general trend in who is most affected. Professionals engaged in analytical or cognitive work are more likely to notice changes in their daily tasks. AI is helping them with decision-making, data handling, and idea generation.

Workers in physical or routine roles, such as transport or production, face less direct impact for now. Where AI does enter the picture, it tends to boost output rather than remove the role altogether.

AI adoption remains limited

Singapore is usually seen as digitally advanced, yet AI adoption remains limited and uneven. The risk is a slow divide between firms that adapt and those that fall behind, even if they are not facing sudden job loss.

Smaller firms may struggle to keep pace, and workers who don’t pick up new skills may find themselves edged out over time. The work change, though gradual, is already underway.

AI will reward those who adopt it in their work early

The government is pushing support through training and tools. Firms can tap into programmes such as the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package (EWTP). Workers are being nudged to assess their AI readiness and pick up new skills.

Access to AI tools is also being expanded through training initiatives. These suggest a focus on helping people work with AI rather than on stopping its use altogether.

Again, AI will not replace most workers, but will reward those who adapt to it early, so for firms, the task is to start small and build capability. For workers, the direction is to stay useful by learning how AI fits into their role.

Ignore AI, and the outcome will indeed feel sudden later. But if you keep pace, it becomes just another helpful tool rather than something to fear.

This article (MOM: AI is complementing jobs, not displacing labour in Singapore) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

Cuban said the shift is already underway, driven by companies weighing the cost and productivity of AI systems against human labor.

SINGAPORE: A Singapore worker who had nearly a year to prepare for retrenchment still found herself unready when the final day arrived. Her story shows that job loss affects more than just income for some, as they link their career loss to a loss of identity, routine, and a sense of place in society.

She was given 10 months’ notice as her company moved operations overseas. During that time, she trained a replacement team and kept work running. On paper, it looked like a smooth transition, but in reality, it became a slow, drawn-out goodbye, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reports (April 27).

A grief that stayed buried in silence

Instead of processing the loss, she focused on staying productive. Work became her shield. The grief stayed buried.

Colleagues left one by one. The office shrank. By her final day, only two people remained from what was once an 18-member team.

The ending didn’t come with a dramatic send-off. There were no meetings, no speeches. Just a silent return of her laptop and access card. That silence hit harder than expected.

She left the office and cried in a cinema, alone

She tried to stay composed. That image held for months… but then it collapsed in minutes.

A simple exchange with a colleague triggered it. Then another brief conversation. Words became difficult. Emotions surfaced all at once. She left the office and cried in a cinema, alone, during a weekday screening.

From the outside, retrenchment can look clean. Severance is paid. Work ends. Life moves on. But what disappears is harder to measure. It is the daily rhythm. The sense of usefulness. The quiet pride in doing something well.

Her identity had become tied to her job role

Over time, she realised her identity had become tied to her role. For two decades, her value was linked to output and performance. Without that title, there was a void.

She tried to stay busy at first, updating her resume, planning next steps, and filling time, but it didn’t help. The emotional impact came in waves. Some days were productive. Others were slow and heavy.

Friends who had gone through layoffs told her the same thing. The feeling doesn’t vanish overnight.

Mindset shift: Seeking internal value instead of chasing external validation

With space to think, harder questions surfaced. Was she chasing senior roles out of interest, or validation? Would she accept less pay for more time with her family?

These weren’t urgent questions before, but they became painfully unavoidable after her job ended, so she decided to pause job seeking for a few months. Not to delay, but to reset.

That reset led to small mindset changes, such as writing for herself. Spending free time without guilt. Trying new things without a work outcome attached to it.

Eventually, one of those efforts led to a children’s book deal. It then changed how she saw her own value. Different didn’t mean any less.

Giving people more time to prepare doesn’t make retrenchment easier

Layoffs have now become more common across sectors as Singapore’s cost-of-living pressures and restructuring also continue across the region.

The Singaporean worker’s story stands out because it challenges a common belief: that giving people more time to prepare makes retrenchment easier. It certainly doesn’t.

A longer lead-up to ending someone’s career can stretch the emotional strain, delay closure, and keep people stuck in a space between, where they are still working while they’re on their way out. This tension builds silently within.

For many, work isn’t just a job. It is their identity, so when it disappears, people are forced to ask questions they may have avoided for years.

You are more than just your job role

Eight months on, the worker’s grief over the job loss has softened, even though it hasn’t entirely disappeared. She now sees herself as more than just her previous job role: a writer, a parent, a partner, and an individual outside of work.

That change of heart and spirit didn’t come easily. It came through with much emotional and mental discomfort. And that might be the real takeaway: losing a job hurts even when expected. Even when prepared. Ignoring that feeling only delays the inevitable.

A more practical approach is to acknowledge a job loss early. Give yourself time and space to process it. Let it run its course, because a job may end in a day or some day, but the pain and meaning attached to it takes longer to heal and untangle.

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Read related: ‘The most useful thing a senior told me at work’ — Workers share the advice that ‘stuck with them until today’

This article (‘Who am I without my work?’ — Singapore worker grieves after losing her job and the identity it gave her) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: A report on artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among firms in Singapore by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) released on Thursday (April 30) found that there is no indication of significant job displacement due to AI “at this point,” adding that it is “augmenting but not replacing” jobs.

MOM said only 6.2% of firms in the city-state reported reduced headcount after adopting AI, while more are redesigning roles (18.9%) and creating new AI-related jobs (13.9%), suggesting the technology is “primarily transforming tasks rather than replacing roles”.

In fact, AI adoption remains limited in the little red dot. About seven in 10 firms have yet to adopt AI, while among those that have (28.5%), only a small share (3.8%) have started integrating it into their core processes, while the rest are still at the planning (7.4%) or piloting (6.0%) stages.

In smaller firms, where there are fewer than 25 employees, adoption is still at 23.9%, compared with 76.4% among larger firms. Those with more than 500 employees also show deeper integration, pointing to stronger digital capabilities and resources.

Still, 70.7% of firms using the technology have already reported productivity gains, alongside improved decision-making (13.3%) and innovation (11.9%).

AI adoption remains challenging due to high implementation costs (44.9%) and lack of in-house expertise (42.4%) according to firms. Smaller firms also cited lack of strategy (32.4%) and low trust in AI (30.8%), while larger firms pointed to integration complexity (56.1%) and data security concerns (55.4%).

Currently, smaller firms are focused on training their teams (46.6%) and providing AI tools such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek and IBM Cognos Analytics (41.1%), while larger firms are moving towards governance frameworks (37.5%) and workflow redesign (22.5%). /TISG

Read also: AI is taking the blame for layoffs — but analysts say it’s really tariffs, overhiring, and cost-cutting

This article (MOM: AI is ‘augmenting but not replacing’ jobs; no indication of significant job displacement due to AI ‘at this point’) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: A study from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) published mid-month concerned the issue of Singaporeans being overqualified for their jobs. Last year’s overqualification rate is substantial, at nearly one in five. However, a large majority of the overqualified workers are those who chose their jobs voluntarily.

According to the Occasional Paper on Overqualification in Singapore 2025, overqualification in Singapore is not a major structural problem but is, in large part, a condition that is mostly voluntary, often temporary or transitional and is on the increase because of more tertiary-level graduates. Moreover, the biggest challenge for Singapore’s job market is ensuring that workers are not just qualified, but have the right and up-to-date skills for today’s needs.

The report points to the overall strength and efficiency of the city-state’s labour market. While Singapore’s overqualification rate last year stood at 19.4%, this is lower than in other high-income countries, including the United States, Belgium, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. The global average of overqualification in high-income countries is 21.6%.

Moreover, 64% of Singapore’s workforce is highly educated, reaching the tertiary level. Despite this, again, its job matching is relatively good by global standards.

Voluntarily overqualified 

From 2015 to 2025, Singapore’s overqualification rate rose from 16.3% to 19.4%. MOM noted that people’s choices to take roles they are more than qualified for are connected to their preferences for job stability, flexibility, or opportunities to gain experience. 

Last year, about nine out of 10 overqualified workers, or 17.7% of the workforce, were voluntarily overqualified. Only 1.7% of the workforce, meanwhile, were involuntarily overqualified.

In the last 10 years, the number of involuntarily overqualified workers has remained low and stable, which suggests that there is a limited mismatch in the job market.

A skills problem, not overqualification

The study also showed that when it comes to hiring workers, employers do not put the highest premium on degrees. Instead, for almost 80% of jobs, the top priorities are experience (~48%) and skills (~20%). 

This shows that hiring has become more about certain skills, as opposed to the level of education. The report cited the examples of data scientists, engineers, and trainers as hard-to-fill roles, with PMET vacancies unfilled for more than six months, rising to 16% last year.

A problem for young workers

Nevertheless, similar to what the latest Graduate Employment Survey showed last March, overqualification is the biggest problem for young workers, with the highest rates for employees under the age of 30.

Fortunately, this appears to be a temporary problem. Young workers may take on entry-level positions they are overqualified for, and then take on roles for which they are better matched later on.

Interestingly, diploma holders are slightly more affected than degree holders, and the fields with the highest number of overqualified workers are in the humanities, arts, and mass communication. Those who graduate from law and health courses have a lower number, mainly due to strict qualification requirements.

Across different industries, higher numbers of overqualification are found in the sectors of food and beverage, administrative and support services, and transport, such as ride-hailing, while professional services and tech sectors have lower overqualification rates. Also, overqualification is more common in smaller and locally owned companies. /TISG

Read also: WP MP Louis Chua: Now is the time to do more for Singapore’s fresh graduates

This article (In Singapore, the problem with jobs is not overqualification but skills) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

Tim Cook made Apple rich. The question for his successor is whether he can make it cool again.

MEXICO: A man working at a Fortune 100 company shared his financial worries online after being laid off for the first time. With only three months’ notice, a baby, and having recently paid in cash for a car, he said, “I’m scared about what comes next.”

The layoffs came as the company plans to consolidate operations into a single hub, instead of several offices in Mexico, and hire employees in lower-cost countries, mostly in parts of Africa where wages are significantly lower, he said.

Explaining his situation further on r/Layoffs, he wrote: “I can’t go into detail about my role due to contractual restrictions, but I’ve held a senior position for over two years and been here for eight years. During that time, I worked hard and genuinely loved what I did. The job came with great benefits: two months of vacation, a hybrid work model, insurance, and a level of flexibility that allowed me to leave early or take time off when needed.”

Before the layoffs were confirmed, rumours about the job cuts had already been circulating across the company. Then came slowed hiring across several departments, and new recruits who were struggling to perform were eventually let go. On Wednesday, after being called into the office, it finally became official.

Although there’s a good severance package waiting, and some have been offered to relocate to the bigger city, the cost of living there is so high that it would require double the salary, which is not being offered.

Sharing his worries further, he added, “I’m still relatively young, and this is the first time I’ve ever been laid off. I feel a mix of fear and uncertainty. Part of me wants to invest in a business and become my own boss, but living in this country, concerns about corruption and violence make that decision difficult.”

While he felt constant pressure over the past year, there was also a sense of relief, “that maybe this is a turning point”, yet he said, “I feel lost and uncertain.”

Amid his feelings of uncertainty, commenters who have been laid off once encouraged him.

One said, “I’ve been at it for just about 30 years now. I’ve been laid off twice… It happens to most people at least once,” adding that it was “the best thing that could’ve happened” to him.

Another shared, “All I can say my friend is you are not alone. Life has been a struggle for me,” explaining that just as things seemed to ease — after getting a good job, paying a large sum toward his mortgage, and getting a tattoo and buying the guitar he wanted — he “got laid off and [was] back to the grind.”

A third advised, “Look forward. You’ll find another job; things will work out. Leverage your professional network, don’t be afraid to contact people that you haven’t spoken to in a few years if that’s what it takes.” 

However, one commenter shared a more pessimistic note, saying, “The race to the bottom is real. Sorry to hear about you losing your job. Seems like no one and no country is safe.” /TISG

Read also: ‘So this is what AI will drive’: Workers react as PwC partner pay rises amid AI push and fewer staff

This article (‘I’m scared about what comes next’: Fortune 100 worker shares financial worries after being laid off as company shifts hiring to ‘lower-cost countries’) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

MALAYSIA: A foreign boss has come under fire after allegedly name-calling Malaysian staff in a group chat and complaining about the number of public holidays they enjoy in the country. The comments are largely seen as being disrespectful to the host country.

The comment, which has since gone viral on Threads and was reposted by Singapore’s No.1 personal finance podcast, The Financial Coconut, on TikTok and Instagram, shows the boss writing: “These pigs rest so much” and “1 month 10 days off.”

The boss’s comment in the post drew strong reactions online as many saw it as disrespectful. Others said it revealed deeper attitudes about work culture in the region.

“If your boss says this in a group chat, how would you feel?”

The original Threads post was shared in Malay with a question: “If you work for an international company and then your boss says this in a group chat, how would you feel? Context: Malaysia has many public holidays.”

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That question resonated with many, and according to The Financial Coconut, the negative comment cut deeper beyond workplace rudeness. It pointed to a long-standing stereotype about Southeast Asians being “lazy” or lacking drive.

The podcast explained that such views date back to colonial times, when workers in the region were often labelled “indolent” to justify low wages and harsh labour systems. It added that these ideas didn’t disappear as they continue to show up today in modern language, such as complaints about “too many holidays” or assumptions about productivity.

“When someone says that, they’re echoing a colonial script,” the commentary noted, pointing to issues like salary, power, control and working conditions.

“So when a foreign boss in Malaysia calls his team ‘pigs’ for using public holidays, it’s not just unprofessional, it drags in a whole history where Southeast Asians are only seen as ‘good workers’ if they sacrifice rest… and family time to fit someone else’s business model.”

Online reactions: “Yes, well-rested pigs perform better!”

Reactions online ranged from anger to sarcasm and humour. One witty commenter even responded with: “Yes, well-rested pigs perform better! ”

Others took a more serious tone and said rest days and public holidays are part of labour rights, not signs of laziness.

Some also pointed out that Malaysia’s public holidays reflect its multicultural society, with different religious and cultural observances across the year.

When productivity is judged by hours worked, instead of outcomes delivered

The incident has reopened the usual debate in Southeast Asia: how work is measured, and who defines “hard work.”

For many, the issue is not about the number of holidays, but respect. Calling staff “pigs” crosses that line. It undermines morale and signals a lack of cultural awareness, especially in international teams. It also raises an important question: should productivity be judged by hours worked, or by outcomes delivered?

In Singapore and across the region, this conversation is becoming more relevant as companies push for better work-life balance while staying competitive.

Public holidays are how societies choose to live, work and rest

Good management always starts with respect for their staff, and cultural context matters—so does how leaders speak to their teams.

Public holidays are not a flaw in the system. They reflect how societies choose to live, work and rest. If anything, a well-rested workforce is more often effective. And a boss who understands that will get more out of people than one who reduces them to insults.

This article (When comments on Malaysia’s public holidays cross the line into disrespect) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: It’s no secret that many job seekers today have to submit well over a hundred applications to secure a role, but in a shocking Reddit post, a Singaporean marketing professional revealed that she has hit burnout after sending more than 800 applications over the past four months, only to land three interviews.

While some might assume her applications are being filtered out because of AI, she believes something else may be affecting her chances. She pointed in particular to the overlap between her work experience and her studies.

“My full-time work overlaps almost entirely with my degree timeline,” she wrote. “I’ve been told that this could raise red flags for recruiters or ATS (Applicant Tracking System), potentially making it seem like I’m misrepresenting my experience or that my roles weren’t truly full-time.”

She explained that she pursued her bachelor’s degree from January 2023 to December 2025. During that time, she also held two full-time roles, the first from August 2022 to October 2023 and the second from December 2023 to October 2024.

She eventually left her second job to focus on her studies. “I stopped working from late 2024 through 2025 to focus entirely on completing my degree. Balancing full-time work and studies simultaneously led to significant burnout, so I made the decision to prioritise finishing my education properly,” she said.

Now, she finds herself in a difficult position. She wants to highlight both her academic qualifications and her professional experience, but is concerned that the overlap may be hurting her chances.

To deal with this, she’s considering making some tweaks to her resume. “[I’m thinking]of adding ‘part-time’ next to my degree, keeping the degree title unchanged, but including a bullet point explaining I worked full-time concurrently.”

She also plans to “mention this context briefly in her professional summary” to clear out any misunderstandings.

“My intention was always to position this as a strength,” she added. “I saw working full-time while studying as a sign of discipline and resilience, but I’m starting to wonder if it may be creating confusion instead.”

“Mass sending of applications is not going to yield good results.”

In the comments, an HR professional chimed in, saying that they weren’t surprised by the jobseeker’s application-to-interview ratio, as the “job market for marketing has been really competitive for the past 1–2 years.”

They went on to share a few suggestions on how she can improve her odds of getting an interview.

They said, “Seeing you have just 2-3 years of work experience, keep your resume to just 1 page. Feel free to send me your resume if you would like, or you can have AI review your resume (just omit sensitive data).”

“On your job scope, keep it in point form and don’t make it 2 lines per point and end up having a cluttered resume. Font size shouldn’t be too small. I received a size 6 font resume before, and I just brushed it off because the whole resume is just a cluttered mess. Good luck!”

Another user, who said they work as a recruiter, suggested that companies might be rejecting her applications because she spent a relatively short time in her first two roles.

They explained, “You might have painted yourself into a corner there. The first thing on my mind as a recruiter is will this ‘fler chut’ pattern happen again if we hire? The best you can do is exclude the second job or call it part-time. Just tell them you wanted to work the first job for a full year and tendered at the 1-year mark with a 30-day notice.”

A third user also cautioned her against sending out a huge number of generic job applications just to try her luck at landing an interview, saying this kind of approach, often called the ‘spray and pray’ method, rarely works and can actually hurt her chances instead of helping.

They explained, “I find it hard to imagine any adaptation of your application to show you understand each company and role you were applying to, since there were 800 applications. Mass sending of applications is not going to yield good results.”

They added, “Have you written to companies unsolicited? Go out to network. Go to events. Meet people and put yourself out there. Tell everyone you know you are looking for a job. If I were in your position… I would write unsolicited to companies or people I love to work for and offer my services. Tell them you are willing to accept any opportunity just because you really want to work for them.”

In other news, a commuter in her 20s has vented online after an elderly woman allegedly confronted her for sitting in a reserved seat and repeatedly insisted it was “for seniors only.”

Posting on the r/SMRTRabak forum on Friday (April 24), the commuter said she had just finished a shift that left her “physically and mentally” drained.

Read more: ‘This seat is for seniors only’: Woman says she was confronted over reserved seat in MRT

This article (Marketing professional sends 800+ job applications in 4 months, gets only 3 interviews and hits burnout) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: Watching a parent slowly lose their sense of purpose after being out of work for a long time is never easy. It’s heartbreaking, to say the least.

Recently, a Singaporean who seems to be running out of options turned to social media to ask how they might help their father get back on his feet and find work again.

In a post on the r/asksg forum, the writer shared that their father, who is turning 50 this year, has been unemployed for about two years and has had little success securing even interviews.

They suggested that his age, along with the current hiring climate, may be working against him despite his years of experience.

According to the post, the father previously held “generalist roles in the government sector” at the deputy director level, with a background spanning “operations, policy work, and managing teams and projects.”

Currently, the family is trying to explore what realistic paths are still available to him at this stage of his career.

“We’re trying to explore what options he might still have at this stage. Would roles like contract work, consulting, or moving to adjacent sectors be more realistic?” they asked

“He’s a bit hesitant about switching industries since he’s been in the public sector for a long time, but we’re open to ideas.”

“Find contractual-based project management roles.”

In the comments, one Singaporean Redditor said, “Mid-career is rough now even for good people, man. I’ve seen ex-director-level folks do contract ops or project roles just to get back in. Look at temp contracts, government stat boards, or consulting gigs via agencies. Manage expectations on pay and level, too. Age bias is real, and hiring is slow; stuff that took a month now drags for a year. Job hunting now is just pain.”

Another user who said they got retrenched at ages 39 and 61 wrote: “There are opportunities out there. He needs to leverage his contacts, go through WSG, and find an appropriate headhunter/recruiter. Don’t stop looking. I am still working now as a C-level.”

A third commented, “From what I’ve been observing recently, it seems like the majority of the government jobs are being converted to a contractual basis rather than permanent full-time. Maybe you can ask your dad to try and find contract-based project management roles?”

A fourth added, “This is my personal suggestion—work as a consultant to some established SMEs. His skill sets of policy, operational and managing teams and projects could be deployed to manage SMEs that have reached a sizable size who are looking to formalise and modernise their organisation.”

In other news, a 29-year-old woman turned to Reddit to ask if she was “overreacting” for wanting a divorce after feeling that her marriage had slowly fallen apart.

Posting on the r/asksg forum on Sunday (Mar 19), she shared that she and her husband dated for three years and have been married for two.

Read more: ‘Just like housemates’: Wife questions divorce after feeling neglected in marriage

This article (‘He’s been unemployed for 2 years’: Singaporean seeks advice for father struggling to get interviews at age 50) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: People rarely quit on impulse. Most just tough it out, deal with the stress, and tell themselves it’ll get better… until something finally pushes them over the edge.

In a Reddit thread, Singaporeans opened up about the exact moment they realised they were done for good.

The discussion began after one user asked, “What was the ‘final straw’ that made you quit your job without a backup plan?”

Small salary bump

One former employee shared that a minimal salary increase was the final trigger that pushed them to resign.

“When I got a S$4 increment back in 2003 as an associate engineer, another engineer got only S$12. I quit immediately the next day.”

Insensitive boss

Another person shared a frightening experience involving their boss, who ignored a serious health condition.

“My boss pressured me to eat seafood, which I am deathly allergic to, and then proceeded to call me weak and a picky eater. This was the final straw after daily berating from him.”

Unfair pay

One individual said they realised they were being underpaid compared to a colleague doing the same role.

“When my colleague and I were performing the same role, she was earning S$4,000 (8+ years with a diploma), while I was paid S$3,600 (5 1/2 years with the company when I quit and pursuing a part-time master’s degree in Big 3).”

They added that the disparity became harder to accept when workloads were not evenly shared.

“Day to day, she contributed very little and was even allowed to work from home for three months due to family issues. I understand having empathy, but it became too much. I also have family issues. Meanwhile, I was expected to be physically present in the office.”

Severe burnout 

For another worker, the turning point came from recognising their own exhaustion.

“I was frustrated for a few months already due to burnout. Then, all in one day:  Watching YouTube videos about ‘symptoms of burnout’ in the office. Realising I was experiencing every single one of them. Taking three hours to complete one task that used to take half an hour. And then hearing your director niam you the entire afternoon.”

That combination pushed them past their breaking point. By that night, they had written their resignation letter and sent it.

Denied time off 

One employee said they were refused even half a day of remote work to care for a sick family member.

“I was denied HALF a day of work-from-home (WFH) to take care of my sick grandma. My boss, who rejected it, works remotely, and her boss WFH a few times a month for various reasons, like a repairman coming to fix the fridge, expecting a delivery so she must be home to receive it, etc.”

Difficult management style 

Another person described working under a manager who made their daily life unbearable.

“My last audit manager was literally driving me out of my mind. He [would] yell at me if I was late just by a few hours…he kept complaining about my work, finding fault with it constantly. Review points only got longer, and I was being scolded on age-old problems. He had me beg him for tips on how to clear his review points. He claimed I couldn’t be trusted with anything, my attitude was poor, etc.”

Over time, the constant criticism began to affect their mental health. “It got so bad that my family found me in the toilet, shouting and swearing at my own reflection. That was when I was forced to quit.”

Biased evaluation 

One worker said they realised their boss was not evaluating ideas fairly.

“When my boss disagreed with my plan, I asked my subordinate to present [the same idea] using different wording. [Suddenly], the boss praised it.”

Small rewards

Another employee said years of effort went unrecognised despite delivering major results.

“My boss is a micromanager who, on one hand, [talks about] ‘creative freedom’ but then the only opinion he listens to is his own.”

“He will say one thing but mean another, and for years I’ve been bringing in projects, and one year I brought in the biggest project in terms of revenue and singlehandedly won us the account. All I got was a 1.5x 13-month bonus. Meanwhile, no promotion or increment for 4 years.”

Read also: Singapore mum of three says she paid for the family for 20 years while husband spent on pets

This article (Singaporeans share the ‘final straw’ that made them quit their job without a backup plan) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

Scour LinkedIn jobs and you’re sure to come across half a dozen listings like the following: “Content Reviewer: Review AI content for clarity. Set your own hours.”

There are variations of these roles, but the deluge on job boards means one thing: training AI models is a real business. One World Economic Forum survey shows the fastest-growing skill in the marketplace is “AI and big data.”

Despite my initial hesitation about AI (I’m a writer, so I’ve had concerns about AI replacing my role), I decided to get on board with data annotation and AI data training. I’ve spent the last few months hopping from company to company, and I’d like to share an insider’s view of my experience.

First, the Positive Aspects of Data Annotation Work

With writing work being slow, I’ve had time in my schedule to pick up these data annotation projects. I like that I can work on my schedule, as little or as much as I want (with some caveats of availability). All the agencies I’ve worked with have paid promptly each week. Some even offer bonuses.

Pay varies dramatically based on project needs, but lately I have seen better-paying opportunities for subject-matter experts, instead of the flood of $15/hour generalist jobs I saw a few months ago.

The Onboarding Process for AI workers

Once I apply for a role I think I’m a good fit for, I’m usually given a link for an interview…with an AI recruiter! It’s the strangest thing, talking to the camera without a person on the other end. The interview questions vary in quality. Some ask great ones, while others are overly technical for the job, in my opinion.

If I’m deemed worthy of the job, I get an email saying I’m in.

Onboarding happens in a flurry of emails with access to Slack, a timer, and the system. I’m required to read onboarding documents and sometimes take a quiz to test my understanding. If I pass, I get access to tasks and can begin work.

Drawbacks to Data Annotation Work

As streamlined as the onboarding process can be, it’s the actual work that can get messy. Here are some drawbacks you should be aware of if you’re considering taking on data annotation work.

1. AI Training Is an Aggressive Market

Now that I have data annotation on my resume, I get emails on LinkedIn about roles almost every day. However, it’s important to understand what’s really happening. Companies like Mercor and Micro1 pay referral fees for new hires, sometimes several hundred dollars. So the professionals contacting me say they are a “recruitment and referral partner,” which just means they want me to click their referral link so they get paid. I often get multiple emails from different “referral partners” for the same job.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing from the worker’s perspective, but it does mean you’ll see multiple listings (worded slightly differently) for the same job. So you waste time looking for work because you keep clicking on the same job!

2. AI Agencies Overhire

Every AI agency I’ve worked with has hired hundreds of people for a short-term project. Many times, I don’t even get a chance to work on a project because the piranhas have already consumed all of the work, and then the project closes.

The Slack channels are a mess. Hundreds of people ask the same questions without searching to see if the question has already been answered. They clog the space with unnecessary chitchat, which makes it difficult for someone looking for work-related information to find it.

Sometimes within days, the project is over. I often spend more time onboarding than actually doing paid work, which is a travesty.

3. Organization for AI Training Projects Is Nil

I have to commend any project lead who works in this space because I imagine it’s a nightmare of a job. They deal with demanding clients, few parameters for what is deemed quality work, and an incessant stream of chatter on Slack.

But what I have seen over time is that AI agencies are getting smarter. While a few months ago I’d be thrown into a project with just a short training document, more agencies are requiring workers to pass quizzes to get to the real work. It’s smart, but flawed. More than once, I’ve failed a quiz, been booted out, and then weeks later received an email saying they’d messed up the quizzes and I was back in. Only now there was no work!

4. Ghosting Is Common on AI Projects

Several times, I’ve been kicked off a project without an explanation why. I get blocked from Slack and have no recourse to ask what happened. A little common courtesy would go a long way here. This is such a new industry, and we’re all learning, so why not help us do better by explaining why we are no longer eligible to work on a project?

5. AI Projects End Without Warning

Project leads are always obtuse when workers ask how long a project will last. Inevitably, it is usually only a matter of days or weeks before the work is completed and the lights are turned off. Sometimes leads say a project is just paused, but I’ve yet to see one come back online.

6. Project Instructions Change Frequently

Given how frenetic these projects are, it seems like the client and agency don’t take enough time to flesh out the requirements and instructions initially. That means people knee-deep in the project are suddenly given updated instructions to adhere to.

There’s Still a Lot of Room for Improvement in the AI Training Industry

Yes, this is a new frontier, and agencies and workers alike are still learning. I invite AI agencies to consider us workers instead of just cogs in the machine. Rather than ask people to work for a few hours and then sit on their hands waiting for more work that never comes, wouldn’t it be better to line up several projects and keep workers happy (and loyal), without having to train new hires every few weeks for new projects?

Data annotation jobs could develop into full-time, permanent opportunities if AI agencies reformulate how they hire and give work. That way, employees are more dedicated to the role and don’t, like me, hop from one opportunity to another.