“Do Singaporeans Really Sleep With Their Bosses For Benefits?”: Many Say It’s More Common Than We Think

How common is it for people to get cosy with their higher-ups to climb the career ladder? According to Singaporeans on Reddit, it might happen more often than many of us think.

The discussion was sparked by a netizen who asked: “Do people actually sleep with their managers and bosses for benefits?”

The OP shared they were simply curious as they have “never worked a real job before”, but said they’d often heard gossip about employees who flirt with their bosses to get ahead. They also heard stories about others who feel pressured to play along when a superior gets a little too flirty. 

They also brought up social media posts where some employees appear especially close to their bosses, wondering: “Are they also sleeping with them?”

Commenters soon flooded the thread with responses, many sharing detailed incidents they had witnessed in their own corporate lives. And let’s just say, some stories were far more shocking than others.

In one case, a female subordinate slept with her boss and quickly climbed the ranks, something that might have been “justified” as she was “efficient and productive”. The messy part, however, was that the manager was cheating on his pregnant wife. He eventually left his wife for the subordinate before later marrying her and even invited their colleagues to the wedding.

“It was so weird, but people actually bootlicked both of them and congratulated [them],” the netizen added.

Another account involved a husband-and-wife duo who ran an SME together. According to the netizen, the husband was having an affair with the accounts manager, who was “also very old, very senior, and very round like him”.

Things came to light when the wife found out, leading to what the Redditor described as an “unforgettable” Monday morning meeting. The husband was made to confess everything in front of the entire company, while the accounts manager was fired on the spot.

The kicker? “The wife's family owns the business right from the start.”

Other stories included employees allegedly sleeping with their bosses to secure promotions or protect their roles in the company, while some bosses ended up cheating on their partners after falling for the arrangement.

Another netizen shared about an affair between their divorced boss and a recently-married colleague. The latter was promoted twice within three years, and the boss would regularly drive her to and from work, with colleagues often spotting the two alone in the car together.

The pair also frequently travelled together for business trips. During team lunches, the colleague would “automatically sit in the [passenger] seat, play with his soft toys, and [look] very familiar with the car entertainment system”.

Eventually, several team members, including the netizen, resigned. Later, an ex-colleague from HR confirmed that the boss had previously divorced due to extramarital affairs with subordinates.

While a handful of netizens argued that workplace affairs don’t represent the majority, others claimed they “occur widely”, adding that only those who are careless actually get caught. 

Still, they advised steering clear of the drama altogether and focusing on one’s own work instead.

“Even if they do, they’ll do it secretly and won’t let you find out,” one netizen opined, while another bluntly declared: “This happens everywhere in the world.”

Photos: Reddit, cottonbro studio/ Pexels