Everything Else, Werk

The ruthless business of the media

yannisms

Monopoly does not pay.

Boys and girls, please keep this in mind. Unlike what you have deduced, companies that hold a monopoly in their industries are not earning enough money, so much so that their employees have to suffer the indignities of being paid poorly. How do I know that?

Well, I went for an interview yesterday with one of Singapore’s most well-known monopoly. Let’s call that company My Dear Corpse, or simply, MDC.

MDC had run an ad, seeking a candidate for the position of a reporter who would cover technology news. Great, I thought, something right up my alley! I wrote in and not surprisingly, got called up for an interview.

When I arrived at MDC’s office, I was immediately asked to get cracking on my writing test, which was divided into two categories – enterprise and consumer technology respectively – of two questions each (total four questions). The instructions were that I had to write an article on one of the four questions in a time frame of 1.5 hours. Easy peasy. I finished my article in about an hour and alerted the HR lady upon my completion.

She went off to print the document and then came back to me, apologetically saying, “Oh, we made a mistake. You are supposed to complete a question from each category.” Right. I hastily dashed off the second article (45 minutes, max) and she then took me to the reception area to wait for my interview.

I sat, flipping through old issues of the magazines that MDC publishes, for a good 20 minutes before I was brought to speak with two editors, one business and one technology, and a HR manager. They asked me questions and I answered dutifully.

Then,

“This is a six-month contract, as you know,” I nodded, “and the terms are therefore not as good as a permanent staff’s.”

Alarm bells rang.

“We want to be upfront about this – while on contract, you will get no CPF contribution, no leave, no transport allowance and no medical benefits.”

My face must have given away some of the intense shock that I was feeling because the biz ed noted, “You look taken aback.”

Of course I was! The contract had nothing at all. I replied, calmly, that the terms (or lack thereof) were harsh, having come from a “contract” where I was given 90% of the perks that permanent staffers received.

The only answer they could give me was, “Oh, it’s management’s way of cutting costs.” I almost responded, yes, but obviously at the expense of your workers, you frigging arse.

They then tried to, alternatively, reassure and warn me by saying, first, that I can still take leave, it’s just that it will have to be no-pay leave, and then that there is no guarantee that this position would be made permanent.

WTF?

Isn’t it against the law to hire someone for such a long period of time and deprive him/her of the rightful benefits like CPF and leave? This just smacks of arrogance, MDC does not seem to realise that this is tantamount to labour exploitation. And to save that 13% CPF contribution, they would willingly put up with the high turnover rate because, obviously, nobody sane would see this as a long-term career.

The HR manager tried to explain the situation to me, when I said plainly that I did not understand what their definition of “contract” was: “It’s a contract of service, not contract of employment. It’s like hiring a freelancer, where we just pay for the work and you use your own facilities and equipment. But here, we provide you with the facilities and the nature of the work requires you to come into the office.”

It’s apparent to me that the company wants to have its cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, because of its standing in the media industry, and because of its wide-reaching influence, it can get away with these humiliating tactics. Maybe it’s a business thing to be ruthless but honestly, it just shows how much the company values the publication, as well as the technology beat.

While it may have won the battle last year, resulting in the closure of its rival, the publication has lost all credibility, whatever little there was, in my most humble opinion.

24 thoughts on “The ruthless business of the media”

  2. thank you for giving us a glimpse into what happens during the interviews there. I think a lot of the “boys and girls” you have addressed constantly get blinded by the ‘glamour’ of the job and work themselves feverishly up the mountain – one that they don’t even know the name. a nice read.:)

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  3. Sadly enough, it’s becoming the norm not the exception. When you have minimal labour laws in a country it essentially becomes a race to the bottom.

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  4. It’s an apparent loophole to circumvent the CPF laws, but might be illegal if deemed to be employment, no matter what they say about contract of service or contract for service.

    You may want to write in to CPF board to complain.

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  6. 2 thumbs to you for writing the blog.

    Welcome to the reality of jobs in Singapore. We don’t have enough labour laws to protect us , unlike in USA where you could have sued the company for the same.

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  7. Would you still take the job? Don’t. Join the dark side. BWAHAHAH

    Frankly, I find that the situation is such that there are so many media sluts wannabes, (qualified or not), who want to enter the foray of journalism that the companies don’t even bother to value the most important aspect – talent.

    It’s not even about passion anymore, since there are so many misguided young people.

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  8. I wonder who will be willing to sign such contract….

    Anyway, there’s always some better job offers out there.

    jia~you ^^

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  9. i sympathise with you. The company finds itself not profitting anymore and tries to rip profits from its employee. Its a shame actually. The disgusting shareholders and top managements must have a hand in this. They can continue to absorb the high turnover rate, and what we can do is to spread (so call badmouth) the co. Since they like to deprive their employees of so many deserving rights, lets just pull them down.

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  10. You should have asked the interviewer back “Do you get any CPF contribution, leave, transport allowance and medical benefits? Are you a freelancer? I just want to be upfront about this.”

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  11. Look at it this way…

    If they pay peanuts, they’ll only have monkeys. And sadly, there are always countless number of monkeys on the trees. So are you going to be one of those monkeys or the priceless and endangered Snow Leopard?

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  13. B.O.Y & VK – yes, you guys are right. Which is why MDC can afford to be so arrogant in assuming that they can still find someone to take that position even if the terms are honestly sucky. Their position is that this is an employer’s market – and I have lost all respect for the company.

    Nope, will not go over to the dark side anytime soon. =) Have found a temporary-but-soon-to-be-permanent cubby hole.

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  16. Hi, dropped in here via Tomorrow.sg.

    If u allow, i give my 2-cent “advice” as belows:

    They are playing with “words” when they say u will be employed under “contract for service” – layman termed as sub-contractors. As long as they still have control over how you go about doing your work, your working hours, work patterns, nature of work and or work load, on a daily or regular basis. You are under “contract of service” i.e. an employee.

    Under Singapore CPF law, when monthly salary exceeds $50, employer must contribute 13% to employee’s CPF account, and if more than $500 per month, both employer and employee must contribute CPF. So if they don’t pay your CPF, they are violating the law.

    if they required u to report to their office daily and give u assignments as and when required, i dont see how u can be called a freelance writer…

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  18. Sighsigh…poor Yann..i can totally understand how u feel. Glad i’m getting outta here! It’s the most stinkomatic place i have ever worked in. Don’t take it up!! DON’T!!! Even if you’re desperate! NOOOOOOOO!!

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  19. there is something very wrong in singapore. i presume that you have just graduated and are looking forward to join the workforce. you will find out that all are not rosy.

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  21. The HR lady was spot on.

    Contract for service is not covered under the employment laws. They laid out all the cards so if you don’t like it, don’t take it.

    Don’t expect CPF, leave etc. The contract clearly states you are not an employee.

    So quit whining, there is nothing illegal about what they are doing.

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  23. Your wording and illustration seems passable. I dont understand why MediaCock wouldn’t want to hire someone like you. It’s a pity…

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