Why More Gen Zs in S’pore Are Choosing Social Service Over High-Paying Corporate Jobs

Is social service just "paid volunteering" for kind-hearted individuals? Turns out, the reality behind having a career in social work goes beyond just lending a helping hand to those who need it. 

That’s exactly what YES 933 DJ Ze Liang discovered in the latest episode of Gen Z Crash Course. He followed Amir, a Protection Officer with the Ministry of Social and Family Development, and Ming Fang, a strategist at non-profit organisation The Majurity Trust, to better understand their day-to-day roles.

For Amir, a big part of his job comes with being able to find a balance between empathy and doing the right thing.

Some days, he goes for home visits, and on others, he attends court hearings, holds case conferences with other professionals, and also visits children at the children's homes. 

"I handle a few cases at one go, some can last for a few moths, but some for a few years," he says. 

While heading to a home visit, he shared: "Sometimes we may not know what to expect. [We don't know if] they would welcome our support, and sometimes they may not open the door or become aggressive. I think for some of them, they see us as a threat. They think we're trying to take away their children or destroy their family, but it's important for me to remain calm and remain professional so I get to achieve [my goal] for the visit."

In his line of work, Amir sees heartbreaking cases on a regular basis.

When asked how he compartmentalises his emotions to deal with a case logically, Amir said: "It's very important for us to have listening skills to hear what [parents] are worried about. It can be very quick for us to say what we want to say when we're concerned about safety, but we have to hear what they're going through each day to understand their struggles and provide hope that things will get better."

The toughest part of his job is making the difficult decision to remove a child from their family so they can receive better care. As much as he wants the child to remain with their parents, in some cases, they need to be relocated to children's homes, or to a foster family.

For Ming Fang, a large part of her role involves working with donors and helping them understand the impact of their giving to non-profits and charities.

She works with companies, foundations, family offices, and the government to channel funding to smaller non-profit organisations — such as those supporting migrant workers and individuals with mental health conditions — to help build their capabilities.

A common belief is that social workers tend to burn out easily.

On that topic, Ming Fang said: "I have worked as a frontline social worker in a family service centre and I also see a lot of the emotional labour it takes to work with families. Resilience doesn't come through pushing through pain. I think a lot of it also comes from having good structures and systems that the social service professions have invested a lot the last couple of years."

Finance and tech are booming sectors known to offer well-paying roles and Ming Fang candidly admitted she's thought about what it would be like if she chose a different career path. 

"I think people always compare pay and bonuses. I would say the sector has grown a lot over time, so we are actually quite competitive now. The Ministry of Social and Family Development and National Council of Social Service have done a lot."

Sharing her thoughts on why social service is for her, she said: "It's a space where you can explore and grow in different ways. You can always pursue profit, but it's not every day you find communities you can work alongside and people who inspire you to make a difference."

Watch the full episode of Gen Z Crash Course below to find out more about social service in Singapore.