Singapore worker says he regrets quitting job at SME after facing tougher labor rules from multinationals » Singapore News

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean employee regrets quitting his job at a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) after realising that working for a multinational corporation (MNC) only caused him immense stress.

In his post on r/SingaporeRaw, he said that the working environment at the MNC is much stricter than his previous job.

“I noticed that the difference is that MNCs are very focused on systems and SOPs. While SMBs are more lax in that regard,” he wrote.

For example, he noted that at SME he could be up to half an hour late without any problems, as long as his work was done. There were no consequences for occasional lateness.

In contrast, at the MNC, he must clock in exactly on time, no exceptions, or risk losing his performance bonus. He also indicated that his job now requires detailed reporting for everything.

Furthermore, even if he has the skills to perform certain tasks, he is not allowed to perform them “if they are outside his job description.” Instead, he must wait for outside contractors to perform these tasks.

“It really tests your patience,” he said.

Another example he gave was about the company rule that bans passenger cars and motorcycles in the workplace and only allows company vans or trucks with yellow flashing lights.

According to him, this rule has been violated before because there is a shortage of company vans.

“Many people simply use passenger cars, but due to the lack of commercial vehicles available, they simply attach a battery-operated yellow flashing light to the roof, or a yellow flashing light that works from the car’s cigarette lighter.”

Frustrated with all the company rules, he decided to take a stand with some malicious compliance. One day, when he was supposed to be on site, there were no company trucks, pickups or vans available – only sedans.

He told them that it was not possible to enter without a company vehicle.

He explained to them: “If you can’t wait, call the deployment and the section in charge and ask them to correct (the rule). The site foreman… says other people are all using sedans. But I told them the SOP has to be followed.”

Ultimately, his malicious compliance did not lead to any significant changes. He said, “There still aren’t enough commercial vehicles. But they did bring in 1 extra sedan LOL.”

“I have worked in both and would always want the MNC.”

In the comments, many Redditors disagreed with the Singaporean worker, saying that despite all the strict rules and regulations at multinationals, they would still rather work there.

One Redditor said, “I’ve worked in both and would always want the MNC.”

Another commented: “Complying with SOP is the way to go. You may think it’s inefficient and/or stupid, but just follow it and you’ll be safe. The company can’t blame you or reproach you for following SOP.

If you didn’t follow the SOP and caused an accident, you can kiss your job goodbye. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

A third Redditor echoed this sentiment, saying, “MNC SOP makes things accountable. And that’s what you want when you’re managing across continents. SMBs don’t do that. Accountability is how MNCs sell their name.

I’m not saying that selling their name will make you money, but there is a certain correlation between brand name/price/profitability/salary.”

Meanwhile, some Redditors pointed out that not all multinationals are so strict about punctuality.

Sometimes these companies rely on their employees to manage their own schedules and make up for lost time by working overtime or performing tasks outside of regular work hours.

A netizen said: “Hmm, but in MNC it’s so big that you’re just a cog in the machine. They don’t even know you exist and being late with a valid reason is completely normal. Maybe you need to build some trust with the team before you become lax?

Sounds like you’re just starting out in this culture. Are you sure it’s MNC and not ME?”

Also read: MNC employee wonders if people still have the “I can’t leave until my boss leaves” mentality

Featured image by Right