Originally Posted by greenerpastures

I've only spent half a year in private sector so far, so I can't really answer that very objectively yet. I have no regrets leaving, all my colleagues here are amazing and the amount of raw intellectual power within the company is staggering.

If you are looking for job security, public sector is definitely better. Singapore government will definitely exist in 50 years in some form. I can't say the same for any FAANG company. If the history of big firms like IBM, General Motors etc are anything to go by, the FAANGs will probably still be around but will be less relevant, despite their attempts to reinvent themselves.

For anything else, it really depends on your context - whether you are specialist or generalist, what part of the govt you are joining, etc.




I know I'm above the average Singaporean when it comes to career progression. I've worked hard in my time in the government, so I make no apologies for it.

In 2018, I got an "A" grade despite having been promoted - which is why I know that it's possible to deviate from the default "C" grade the year you get promoted. But I achieved that because I was essentially doing the job of myself and 80% of my Assistant Director combined, and I had supportive bosses who recognised that and were willing to put in extra effort to get me the grade. Sure, I got a fat performance bonus that was ~1+ month more than other people. But that means I got 1 month's pay for doing 0.8x a full-time job for a year.

In 2020, I helped solve problems on a national scale for COVID. The average Singaporean, and in fact a good part of the civil service, will not know some of the behind-the-scenes problems that we as a country faced, and how hard some people worked to make sure things continued as normal (those of you who are in government and know what HCEG is will have an idea of what I mean). And at the end of 2020, we were rewarded with a 0.1 month bonus for solving the greatest crisis the government has faced since communism. Some of us got an additional low-4-figure payout as a reward, but we did the mental math - based on the extra hours we worked, the extra payout was the equivalent of about $2/hour. We could have made more money flipping burgers at MacDonalds, and at McDonalds we would not have to endure the stress of having to meet a senior Minister on a Sunday afternoon, which means meaning the junior Minister on Sunday morning, which means entire Saturday spent arguing things over with Senior Directors and Perm Secs until 3am.

I'm not trying to brag, nor am I asking for people to clap for me. The point I'm trying to make is - work in the civil service is what you make it out to be. There are parts of the civil service where you can be a mindless 9-5 drone working for toxic bosses who should have been fired for incompetence. There are also parts of the civil service where you have amazing bosses and colleagues who are driven to do the best they can. If you want to make it far in the civil service, it requires you to do hard work, beyond what would be considered good return on investment for your time and mental energy. I can say that for the effort I put in, I would have earned more if I joined a management consulting or finance role.