Q: Big4 - Yearly salary increment

Is it unethical to resign during march period? Everyday I’m feeling so miserable and I think my mental health is really greatly affected. I’m planning to resign during March but fear that it will look unethical even that I am the senior in charge for a couple of engagements…

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Is it unethical to resign during march period? Everyday I’m feeling so miserable and I think my mental health is really greatly affected. I’m planning to resign during March but fear that it will look unethical even that I am the senior in charge for a couple of engagements…

Every man for himself lah.

This is why ask you don’t make close friends at work. Once you get too attached, you will feel guilty about abandoning them.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Is it unethical to resign during march period? Everyday I’m feeling so miserable and I think my mental health is really greatly affected. I’m planning to resign during March but fear that it will look unethical even that I am the senior in charge for a couple of engagements…

unethical? what are you talking about?

normal companies will either have excess capacity (2 employees working 9-6 so one guy can OT a bit to cover the other person until a replacement is found), or backfill resignees immediately so that jobs can go on, not chuck the burning dumpster fire onto some poor sap to carry two jobs at one time with unrealistic deadlines and never hire in oct because "poor economic outlook" so that partners can buy another penthouse. clients didn't pay your million dollar fees so that partner can allocate only 1% of it to the team resourcing.

can tell you've never worked outside a big 4 audit team because your view on jobs and responsibilities is so whack. really can laugh at how funny it sounds.

just resign if your $$$ can take the tank.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

unethical? what are you talking about?

normal companies will either have excess capacity (2 employees working 9-6 so one guy can OT a bit to cover the other person until a replacement is found), or backfill resignees immediately so that jobs can go on, not chuck the burning dumpster fire onto some poor sap to carry two jobs at one time with unrealistic deadlines and never hire in oct because "poor economic outlook" so that partners can buy another penthouse. clients didn't pay your million dollar fees so that partner can allocate only 1% of it to the team resourcing.

can tell you've never worked outside a big 4 audit team because your view on jobs and responsibilities is so whack. really can laugh at how funny it sounds.

just resign if your $$$ can take the tank.

not OP, but I have neger worked outside a big4.

Is that how it works outside?

Here if your team got 4 ppl, 1 resign during peak, more often than not there won’t be a replacement. Even if have, won’t be 1:1 same experience same grade same amount of time.

If your allocation utility period is 1 month, you take 1 week of MC for Covid, again not likely to have replacement, you left 3 weeks to complete the same amount of work.

I guess the root cause is we have no concept of “cover”.

Everyone is already stretched with their own work allocation, OTing long hours during peak. How to cover you?

You guys dont understand how the govt wants the Foreign Trash to work for free in Singapore. Govt only allow work pass for certain trash industry that very little or zero singaporeans want to join, hence its on you for joining these trash industry. Its part of the strategy to make them work for free in the long term so stop blaming the govt because you choose to join and compete for zero pay with these foreign trash.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I guess the root cause is we have no concept of “cover”.

Everyone is already stretched with their own work allocation, OTing long hours during peak. How to cover you?

Hmm also that nature of work is different client?

If you sick today, I cannot just jump in to cover you when I know nothing about your client industry.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

not OP, but I have neger worked outside a big4.

Is that how it works outside?

Here if your team got 4 ppl, 1 resign during peak, more often than not there won’t be a replacement. Even if have, won’t be 1:1 same experience same grade same amount of time.

If your allocation utility period is 1 month, you take 1 week of MC for Covid, again not likely to have replacement, you left 3 weeks to complete the same amount of work.

The other guy got it right, Big 4 has no concept of cover because everyone is expected to work 16 billable hours and follow up on previous engagements, not including meals and commute (while charging 8, of course).

Outside it's perfectly normal to have colleagues to cover for you even for emergencies. And once you're rolled off to another project, someone will be assigned to take over so there's no "follow up" unless you're too kaypoh. If you MC, someone can take over so you don't have to work weekends to "catch up". That's why work needs to have chill time and not non-stop action like in audit, so that you can literally cover for other people.

Why do you think in audit, it's impossible to find people who have worked outside Big 4 or trash SMEs? Because the slave-like practice is a bloody joke, any sane person who has seen normal practices will run. That's why they have to resort to hiring clueless students and desperate jhk only.

Also the timeline is getting shorter and shorter because partners try to please clients and give unrealistic timelines by expecting workers to OT more and sleep less. Outside, we always add buffer to our timeline to account for MC, breakdown, entire team get COVID, etc. If complete earlier we have time to double check, shake leg, or submit earlier and get praise.

To people who have never worked outside Big 4, please don't normalize your stupid culture and bring it to other companies. Have friends who complain about their ex-audit hires because of this mentality they bring. Just because the partners and managers brainwash you with stupid ideas like this doesn't mean it's smart.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hmm also that nature of work is different client?

If you sick today, I cannot just jump in to cover you when I know nothing about your client industry.

you don't even need cover if your timeline is not artificially short aka calculated by working 14 hours per day to make it in time. if there's buffer, just come back after MC to do... or be chill enough that I had time to teach my teammate to do the same thing I do beforehand.

that's why your IT maintenance always ask for 7 days when the actual task is just 2-4 days.

but at the end of the day, this is a partner problem. audit partners are not resourceful and lousy at problem solving. this is why you see so many lawyers, businessmen, bankers as ministers but not auditor.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You guys dont understand how the govt wants the Foreign Trash to work for free in Singapore. Govt only allow work pass for certain trash industry that very little or zero singaporeans want to join, hence its on you for joining these trash industry. Its part of the strategy to make them work for free in the long term so stop blaming the govt because you choose to join and compete for zero pay with these foreign trash.

Bro now got hard and fast points system for EP, cannot give "exceptions" to jhk already. We just didn't hire anyone. Few years ago my referral bonus was bigger than my actual bonus but now is 0. Already see people get rejected for EP, no quota for SPass. First thing HR ask these days is the candidate age and ask them do SAT. Nowadays easier to hire an Indian than a jhk.

As usual, franchise the name from overseas Big 4 but typical local SME mindset, only know how to hire cheap slave labour from overseas instead of innovating to improve their business and margins. Make sure don't vote PAP because we only got this new EP system after the poor showing last GE. At least we're creating jobs for sinkies, hopefully next time won't be 1k salary intern positions but actual decent paying decent wlb full time positions......