Joining the social services sector no longer the last resort

WITH all the headlines about artificial intelligence displacing humans in the workforce, one might wonder: Is it time to look for another job?

To navigate this, I’ve relied on a time-tested tool: the one-third rule of career management.

Review your work activities – what you have to do to accomplish your job. Sort them into three buckets: learning, stretching and “eyes closed”.

The first includes activities that you can learn by doing them. Stretching refers to those that you must do more to become proficient. And the last is simply those that you can do almost with your eyes closed.

If you have an equal or almost-equal split among the three buckets, you have an ideal job; you’re learning and growing.

However, if your third bucket is the heaviest, then it is time for you to move on, lest you end up mindlessly running on a treadmill headed nowhere.

Moving on need not involve looking outside your organisation; you could look internally for lateral career moves.

Suppose you decide that it’s time to seek a new employer. Besides the job title, how do you choose which sector to focus on?

Many of us have come to realise that we are not deriving as much job satisfaction as we would like. The search for work purpose seems to have begun gaining traction post-pandemic.

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Perhaps people are realising that life cannot be taken for granted and that they want to live life more meaningfully, before it’s too late.

Some desire to work in an organisation and do a job with more meaningful impact, such as helping to change others’ lives for the better, instead of chasing revenue.

A different option

The social services sector is an option worth serious consideration.

Some consider this only towards the end of their career journey, primarily because of the opportunity costs.

Working in a business organisation – one that exists to make a profit – typically comes with a higher salary.

For example, a functional head with more than 10 years of experience, such as a chief human resources (HR) officer, could command a monthly salary of about S$15,000 in a social services agency (SSA), whereas one in a commercial organisation could receive about S$8,000 more. These estimates are based on published figures by the National Council of Social Service and recruitment firms.

However, depending on the stage of your life and career, salary is but one key factor.

Other factors that have increasingly become more important include job satisfaction, work-life balance and even working arrangements: a hybrid set-up where your employer allows you to work a fixed, or even flexible, number of days in the office and the remainder remotely, from home or elsewhere.

Another factor is the (mis)perception of work pressure and stress involved in social services.

Having been engaged with the sector for some two decades, I can share that working for an SSA does have its upsides, setting aside the typical salary downside.

As an active volunteer with Dementia Singapore (DSG) for some seven years, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with the agency’s regular (full-time and part-time) employees and observe their work life.

Many colleagues join DSG as they believe and support the cause – that is, to provide support to persons living with dementia and their care partners.

“Everyone deserves to live meaningfully with dignity, regardless of their abilities and circumstances. This belief propelled me to cross over to the social services sector,” said Chong Jern Yen, manager of advocacy and communications at DSG, who had spent three years in the corporate world previously.

Perhaps because of this shared vision, there is solidarity and minimal office politics.

When two or more people come together to work or volunteer, there is likely to be differences in views and approaches, making friction inevitable. In this sense, politics cannot be avoided.

There are at least two different dimensions of politics: offensive and defensive. It is important to differentiate between the kind that potentially can harm others (offensive) and that which is defensive – to protect one’s interests.

Most people would rather spend time and energy doing their job than managing politics. A collegial environment could be a plus point for SSAs.

And when it comes to working policies and practices, SSAs can be as attractive as multinational companies, even clinching awards. At the Tripartite Alliance Award 2025, DSG won five awards. That qualifies the agency as an employer of choice, in my view.

A hope for an important sector

There have been quite a number of SSAs that have also been recognised nationally for their HR practices and policies. Ren Ci, Awwa and Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities are just three examples.

Awwa has been recognised by The Straits Times in its ranking of Singapore’s Best Employers from 2023 to 2025.

Chong highlighted that work in the social services sector also supports personal growth. “It can offer meaningful careers with opportunities to mature as an individual and make a decent living at the same time.”

I hope that more SSAs will be recognised for their HR and leadership initiatives, and that the sector will eventually evolve to a sector of choice, rather than of last resort.

But first, they must hire the right quality talent in the right numbers. The right leadership and fundraising team can make things happen – that includes making the money count.

The writer is an active volunteer with Dementia Singapore and an executive coach by profession