SINGAPORE: A Malaysian working in Singapore as an office administrator has shared his frustration after a pay rise he was told to expect after three months suddenly turned into a much longer wait.
In a post on the r/askSingapore forum on Tuesday (Mar 31), he said that before accepting the role, a recruiter had assured him over WhatsApp that his S$2,400 salary would be reviewed and increased once he passed his three-month probation. It sounded straightforward enough at the time.
However, as he approached the end of that period, things did not play out as expected. When he brought it up with his boss after receiving his latest pay, he was merely told, “Not so fast.”
“[My boss] said the company normally does 5–10% increments after 1 year based on performance.”
“This is completely different from what I was told when I was recruited. I have the WhatsApp screenshots of the recruiter agent telling me the salary would be adjusted after 3 months.”
The boss also reportedly told him that his current pay was “already above market rate,” a claim he flatly disagreed with.
“I strongly disagree with that. S$2,400 feels like a figure they have set for Malaysian hires, and honestly, it is not a lot to live on in Singapore.”
Now feeling stuck and more than a little misled, he turned to others for advice on what to do next.
“Is this something I can report? If so, to which authority? Does the WhatsApp conversation count as proof or evidence? Should I approach the recruiter agency directly first before escalating? Should I just keep quiet and just find a new job? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you so much!”
“Recruiters tell you whatever it takes to get you hired.”
In the thread, many Singaporean Redditors told the worker, quite bluntly, that if the promised salary increment is not stated in his contract, he cannot take any action.
“Nothing you can do. The recruiter is paid commission only,” one said. “They are not HR of the company and cannot decide for the company whether they want to raise your salary or not.”
“If you are not happy with your current salary, find a new job,” another chimed in. “The recruiter over-promised to get you to sign; your current employer did not promise anything. You have no case to report without benefiting you.”
A third wrote, “Recruiters tell you whatever it takes to get you hired. Their KPI is ‘positions filled’—satisfaction afterwards is someone else’s problem. That means for you: unless there is something written down in some way, you can’t rely on it.”
A fourth added, “Your boss’ answer was correct and logical. Most companies give increases annually, not after probation. Yes, S$2.4k is indeed high for a Malaysian admin post. Usually range from S$1.5k to S$1.8k.”
In other news, a software engineer took to social media to share that the firm he works for, which he hinted is an “infamous three-letter local IT company,” has been assigning him non-technical work for the past two years.
“I have not learned ANYTHING technical; every project I’m put on is just me doing PowerPoint and admin work,” he wrote on the r/singaporejobs forum. “Yet, I am expected to OT on weekends and even till midnight due to the sheer amount of work there is to do. It seems like the horror stories about this company are true.”
Read more: ‘I’m just doing powerpoints and admin work’: Software engineer frustrated over non-technical workload at company
