If u die tonight, your employer will advertise your job role the next day
Not trying to be morbid, but this thought randomly hit me recently.
Imagine you spend 5, 10, 15 years of your life working for a company. Wake up every morning, squeeze onto MRT, reach office, answer emails, attend meetings that could have been an email, OT when needed, reply to WhatsApp after working hours, meet deadlines, take on extra responsibilities because “the team needs you”.
You become damn important to your department.
Everyone knows you.
Your boss trusts you.
Your colleagues depend on you.
Maybe you even sacrifice family time, holidays and weekends because you feel responsible for your work.
Then one day, you’re suddenly not around anymore.
The company still has work to do.
The projects still need to be completed.
The clients still need someone to reply them.
And eventually, HR will probably put up a job advertisement to replace your position.
Maybe not literally the next morning, but the point remains.
Your job can be replaced.
And honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. Businesses exist to continue operating. They cannot simply stop because one employee is gone.
But I think many Singaporeans need to remember this.
Your job title is not your identity.
Your KPI is not your worth.
Your annual performance review is not a measurement of how valuable you are as a human being.
That promotion you’ve been chasing? Someone else will eventually get promoted.
That project you stayed until 10pm to finish? Eventually, people will move on to the next project.
That company you think “cannot function without me”? Give it some time and they will find someone, outsource it, automate it or restructure the department.
Meanwhile, your family and friends don’t care about your quarterly targets.
They care whether you were there for dinner.
They care whether you answered their call.
They care whether you had time to spend with them.
So obviously, I’m not saying “quit your job and stop caring about work”.
We need money. Singapore isn’t exactly cheap. CPF, rent or mortgage, groceries, transport, insurance, children’s expenses — all these things are real.
But maybe we should stop sacrificing everything for a company simply because we’re afraid of being seen as less hardworking.
Do your job well.
Get paid fairly.
Build your skills.
Save and invest.
Protect your career.
But also protect your life outside work.
Because at the end of the day, the company will eventually fill a vacancy.
Your family can’t replace you.
Maybe that’s the real reminder.
Don’t wait until something happens before realising you spent your best years living for your job.