Some jobs may look easy on the surface but involve a significant amount of unseen work. That’s likely what prompted a netizen to post this question on a Reddit thread: “What job in Singapore looks easy but is actually exhausting?”
Singaporeans quickly chimed in with their answers, with some naming jobs such as artists, personal assistants, social service roles, and IT support roles — positions that often involve far more effort and preparation behind the scenes than the finished product lets on.
However, the most common answers, as many agreed, are those who work in the education sector and in healthcare.
It doesn’t take much to see why teaching, especially in early childhood education, can be exhausting. Imagine spending most of your day with a group of young kids, tending to their needs while also fulfilling the demands of teaching them, five days a week.
Some also pointed out deeper issues, saying that in certain cases “the pay doesn’t commensurate with the teaching workload”. Plus, there are “expectations from parents” who feel it is also the teacher’s responsibility to parent and coddle their children.
One netizen, who specifically mentioned student care teachers, explained: “You get paid so little, and parents expect you to do all the teaching in the hours the kids spend at the centre. If their kid has low grades for their spelling, the teachers get blamed. It is tough dealing with these lazy parents and kids who are so entitled you want to smack their heads together.”
