Thrive’s top newsletter picks of 2025

[SINGAPORE] Tariffs were back in the headlines in 2025, with trade tensions flaring on and off, causing real effects for Singapore’s open economy. Artificial intelligence (AI) was everywhere – talked about and used so much that Merriam-Webster named “slop” the word of the year. (We wrote about this too!)

For the homeowners (or homeowner-hopefuls) out there: interest rates fell and so many people googled “mortgage quote” that it became the most searched news topic of the year in Singapore.

General Election 2025 also loomed large, especially for first-time voters thinking through what this might mean for jobs, prices and the kind of future they want.

Concerns about graduate employment grew as well, with a government task force rolling out up to 800 short-term traineeships amid complaints of a tough job market.

As the year winds down, we wanted to do what we always do at thrive: pause, reflect, and round up some of our favourite reads from the year.

4 things I’ve learnt as a Gen Z in the workforce

For her last newsletter for thrive, Chloe wrote a personal reflection on what she’s learnt in the three years since working full-time.

Drawing from her missteps and observations, she writes candidly about first impressions, the struggles of being young and new to a job, and coming to terms that the perfect job doesn’t exist.

As a Gen Z, here’s why I’m against ILPs

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Does a tech degree still pay?

This was written earlier in the year, when data showed sales of investment-linked insurance plans (ILPs) had ballooned 41 per cent to S$2.25 billion in 2024.

Later on, the topic resurfaced again after a spike in consumer complaints about ILPs, largely around how they were sold (or mis-sold) or inappropriate financial advice being given.

‘Vibecession’ explained: When vibes are down even if the economy isn’t

Is the rise of Labubu a signal that a recession is coming? What about frozen pizza or men’s underwear?

This piece looks at the truth behind the jokes about everything being a recession indicator. And even if the economic numbers look alright, it puts a name to the strange feeling that the economy isn’t quite okay.

Post-graduation grief is real. Here’s why it hits so hard

When you’re a student, all you want is to become a working adult. When you’re a working adult, all you want to be is a student again.

Reading this piece by Jie Ann reminded me of how I felt when I was thrust into the working world for the first time, when familiar routines disappear and the structure you’ve relied on for years suddenly vanishes.

Why we keep using corporate jargon (even though we hate it)

“Let’s circle back.” “Quick sense check.” “Low-hanging fruit.”

This piece started with my genuine confusion over the phrases a new colleague was using, to the point where I had to constantly ask her what she meant.

It led me down a rabbit hole figuring out where all this corporate lingo came from, and why we “waste time say lot word when few word do trick”.

🤝 Meeting you IRL 

One of the biggest highlights of the year was getting out from behind our screens and meeting thousands of you in person.

We met students and young professionals at roadshows and events, including at the Singapore Management University, National University of Singapore, University of the Arts Singapore, Republic Polytechnic, and we even held a booth in Jakarta at the Tech in Asia Conference.

Some standout moments:

• Discussing early-career worries with experienced career coaches at a career fair by Jobstreet by Seek and SPH Media
• Learning from young startup founders at a fireside chat we hosted with the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and the National Youth Council (NYC) Singapore

If you came to any of these and said hi – thank you!

🎙️ New things

We’re always experimenting. This year, that included new content series:

• Thriving As, a talk show where we asked content creators, engineers, a venture capitalist and many others about the ins-and-outs of their jobs.
• Barely Thriving, a mockumentary series that pokes fun at the absurdities we see in the workplace. This was a project pitched by our interns Rehan and Qaisy! 
• GE Supper Club, a limited-run series during the General Election when I ate food and talked about the latest political developments.

We have several more lined up next year, so stay tuned!

🏆 Four awards – and one big thank you

This year, thrive picked up four accolades, including wins at the World Association of News Publishers Asian Media Awards and the SGX Orb Awards.

While awards are nice, they don’t mean much without readers who actually care.

Your messages, comments and contributions are what keep thrive going. We genuinely couldn’t have done this without you.

Thanks for letting us think out loud with you this year. See you in your inbox again soon.

TL;DR

• Our top five picks for newsletters you shouldn’t miss
• A quick look back at the events we held in 2025
• The new series we introduced this year