In Singapore, the concept of work-life balance is evolving amidst the prevalent hustle culture. Are young Singaporeans leaning towards a more relaxed approach to work, or is the drive to maximise productivity still dominant?

In conjunction with IPS’ annual flagship conference, Singapore Perspectives 2024, which centres on topics surrounding youths, the third episode of "IPS On Diversity" Season 4 will dive into the themes of hustle culture and quiet quitting. Host Liang Kaixin engages with Laurel Teo, IPS Senior Research Fellow, and He Ruiming, co-founder and main writer of The Woke Salaryman, to dissect the dynamics between the two social trends.

They explore the changing work attitudes among Singaporean youth, with a focus on phenomena like “lying flat” and the embrace of “lazy girl jobs”, contrasting these with the still-pervasive hustle culture. The discussion delves into how these attitudes impact professional choices, the pursuit of financial independence, and personal well-being.

Find out more about hustle culture and quiet quitting in Singapore:

• Rice Media (24 August 2022): Singaporean Quiet Quitters Set the Record Straight on Quiet Quitting
• Singapore Business Review (10 November 2022): Commentary: More than 1 in 2 Gen Z Singaporeans are ‘quiet quitting’ 
• Today (30 October 2023): ​​​​​​​Gen Zen: How to have a healthy relationship with hustle culture

About our guests:

Laurel Teo, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies  

Laurel Teo is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Society and Culture department. She studies how people think, feel, and behave in organisational settings. Her research focuses on the future of work, technology and privacy issues at work, as well as ethics and inclusion at work. She was conference co-chair for Singapore Perspectives 2023: Work, and was also the research coordinator for Reinventing Destiny, a conference held in 2023 to mark the occasion of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s 100th Birth Anniversary.

In her prior careers, Laurel has worked in journalism, consulting, and regulatory engagement in Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong. These experiences have helped to shape her research interests. Laurel is also a Chartered Financial Analyst and currently volunteers on the board of CFA Society Singapore as honorary secretary. She graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) double majoring in Anthropology and Chinese. She earned her PhD in Business (Organisational Behaviour & Human Resources) from Singapore Management University.

He Ruiming

Co-founder and Main Writer, The Woke Salaryman  
Council Member, 17th National Youth Council

He Ruiming is the Co-founder and Main Writer at The Woke Salaryman, a personal finance blog that helps Singaporeans make better financial and life choices through their educational webcomics.

Ruiming is also a Council Member of the 17th National Youth Council, and was recognised in the Gen T 2021 List as a Leader of Tomorrow shaping Asia’s Future.

More from On Diversity

• Season 4 Episode 2: Destigmatising HIV and AIDS with Rayner Tan, Assistant Professor of NUS and Terry Lim, Associate Director of Action for AIDS
• Season 4 Episode 1: The Dual Challenges of Poverty and Single Motherhood with Carrie Tan, MP, Founder of Daughters of Tomorrow and Elizabeth Quek, Programme Manager at AWARE
• Season 3 Episode 9: Being Biracial in Singapore with Shane Pereira, Research Associate at IPS and Dave Parkash, Co-Founder at Fook Kin Restaurant
• Season 3 Episode 8: Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination with Sher-li Torrey, Founder of Mums@Work and Kalpana Vignehsa, Senior Research Fellow at IPS
• Season 3 Episode 7: Palliative Care for the Young and Old with Dr Chong Poh Heng, Medical Director at HCA Hospice Limited and Tay Jia Ying, an end-of-life doula and Founder of Happy Ever After
• Season 3 Episode 6: Social Worker Burnout with Louis Ng, MP for Nee Soon GRC and Cindy Ng-Tay, Director of Home at Children’s Aid Society
• Season 3 Episode 5: Leaving the Law Profession with Andrew Chan, Partner at Allen & Gledhill LLP and Michelle Yeo, Of Counsel at LVM Law Chambers LLC
• Season 3 Episode 4: Racism at Work with Dharesheni Nedumaran, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, APAC, at Mediabrands and Shamil Zainuddin, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab