SINGAPORE: A Singaporean tech worker has started dreading work after being “accidentally” shoved into a managerial role he never wanted.
Posting on the r/singaporejobs forum on Monday (May 11), the employee said he never had dreams of climbing the corporate ladder or becoming some big-shot boss. All he wanted was a stable 9-to-5 job, enough time for his family, and the freedom to enjoy his hobbies after work.
“I [was] a pretty chill worker,” he said.
According to him, he joined the company simply as an “experienced hire” and was happy keeping his head down and doing his own work, but things quickly went sideways within a year after one of his peers started “underperforming badly” and was eventually fired following complaints from other departments.
At around the same time, several team members also left because the workload had apparently become unbearable.
With the rest of the experienced staff gone, the company turned to him as the last reliable person standing. Since he had been performing well, management decided to push him into a “people manager role.”
The problem is, he absolutely hates it.
“Now I’m no longer just working on my own projects and tasks. I also have to plan for the team and be responsible for other people’s work.”
Worse still, he said the promotion has opened his eyes to the ugly side of office life.
“I’m starting to really see, hear, and feel all the office politics,” he wrote.
He also claimed management expects him to squeeze even more productivity out of his team despite already feeling that everyone is overworked and doing their best to stay afloat.
“It honestly sucks to be put in this position. I just wanted to mind my own business, do my job, and go home.”
Now feeling stuck in a role he never asked for, the worker turned to other Singaporeans for advice, asking: “Has anyone experienced something similar and managed to adapt?”
The Peter Principle
In the comments, several Singaporean Redditors told the post author that what he was experiencing sounded very much like “The Peter Principle.”
This theory was first introduced by Canadian educator Dr Laurence J. Peter in his 1969 book called “The Peter Principle.”
The concept basically suggests that companies often promote employees based on how well they do in their current job, instead of whether they actually have the skills required for the next role.
Because of this, employees may keep moving up the corporate ladder until they eventually end up in a position where they struggle to perform effectively. At that stage, they can start feeling overwhelmed and out of their depth.
One user warned the post author about what could happen if he remains stuck in the position without properly adapting to it.
“Most people in this situation got managed out of the organisation after some time, sadly. It’s a lose-lose situation,” the commenter wrote.
Still, they added that if he does manage to learn the ropes and adjust to the role, he could eventually become highly “valuable” to the company in the long run.
Alternatively, the commenter suggested that if he does not want to fully commit to management, he could instead stay closer to a technical leadership role.
“You can play a team lead role to guide junior members of the team technically while leaving the manager post to a real people manager,” they said.
Another Redditor encouraged him to look at the situation from a more positive angle instead of seeing it purely as a nightmare.
“Take it positively as experience gained. Nothing can always be smooth sailing in your career.”
A third commenter, meanwhile, said the post author might not actually be experiencing “The Peter Principle” because he already appears to have one key quality many effective managers possess: empathy.
“The fact that you’re seeing your team’s efforts and abilities and already knowing it may not be possible to push further shows your empathy and possibly your ability to push back on upper management expectations and protect them.”
They added, “Most people who don’t have a good manager often become one or quit to find one. I think you just might have it in you to be one.”
Read also: ‘It feels unfair!’: Fresh grad says all the menial tasks are pushed onto them ‘because they’re younger’
