My Salary in Singapore vs Japan 

Love how you went straight to the point! Great comparison and nice vid!

i love this guy, Ghib is the type of person we appreciate/welcome

Thanks Ghib for being transparent! We really appreciate it!

Awesome! We are really glad to have you share your opinions with us. These are great videos so that we can learn more about each country! Personally, I feel that both Singapore and Japan are really blessed to have you because have help us bridged our understanding towards one another. I hope your support service will find alot of emails soon 🤣

You are one of the lucky few who have the experience of working both in Singapore and Japan, and thanks for sharing with us.

So 💪to the point!!like we are a big family!!thanks for sharing!!😉😉😘

Hi Ghib! so brave if you sharing this publicly! thank you so much!

I love your videos! Feels nice and chill ^^

Great video. Thanks for presenting the different perspectives

Thank you for this candid and interesting sharing. For this video, clicking like also meant we have used sick leave to rest. LOL

Wow thank you for sharing such personal details with us! We wouldn’t be able to get such a comparison otherwise :’)

Love your transparency. Thank you!

Great insight Ghib San! Thank you for sharing .

Great content! Very interesting insights from an expat living in Singapore. 👍

I like the fact that you go straight to the point

great meaningful content once again! Perhaps next round can do a comparison on the living expenses between SG and JP

Love your authentic tone. And you are articulate. Ganbatte!!!

Thanks for the fair comparison Ghib! Working in Japan has a lot of unspoken factors that you’d need to consider about, which can be stressful for a lot of people unfortunately. Personally, it’s time for me to move to SG....!

You speak honestly. Like your conversation and straight forward details👍👍👍👍😊

Great video! Hope you'll do a comparison of the cost of living for both SG & JP too. As a fellow Singaporean, I'd highly recommend the claypot rice(s) in Chinatown. One of the best in my opinion

I adore your courage to reveal your pay to public!

Huge respect for showing your pay bro!

SO kind of you to be so transparent of your life and to help others gain understanding. Brilliant stuff!

Good to share your experience 👍

Interesting! Informative! Thanks

Thanks for sharing. Appreciate it and hope everything goes well for your hdb renovation!

I enjoyed this video. Having worked in Japan 30 years ago, surprised to see the starting pay and the work hours have not changed for Japan.

Thanks for breaking it down. this is a touchy issue I feel more singaporeans can be more open about. Super insightful comparing to Japan!

Your description of the working system is so accurate! Singapore loves to play taichi when it comes to everything. In work, they’ll just arrow around.

Now times are bad, ever since everybody can work from home, most staff get to work overtime most of the time, sometimes at someone’s beck and call since the laptop is at home. Now SG is limiting foreigners, priority of jobs given to locals.

Very honest comparison. I have always wanted to work in Japan but never had an opportunity. And I've always wondered what I've missed.

YO Ghib, I believe those who take sick leave even if they are not sick is now part of mental wellness. So ya it isn't just about physical but mentally healthy too. Great to know that you are doing better than before! I do hope that there are more opportunities for Singaporean company to choose to be an generalist instead of a specialist.

Hi Ghib, thanks for sharing and being transparent. I've been working in SG for quite some time now and I think you missed to mention that foreigners pay income taxes on a yearly basis. We do get the pay in full monthly, but we also pay during tax season :)

Great video !

oh ya, for some of us who dont get to enjoy OT pay, we get compensated with "time off". some of us can come in office later or leave earlier with ur superior's permission

It's my 10th year in Japan, and I'm thinking about finding work somewhere else. Singapore is very attractive to me. Taking the leap is scary when you don't know what's waiting for you but your video i very informative and helps me a lot! Thank you! 🙏

Thanks for sharing! This type of information is usually quite personal and people are usually reluctant to share. I didn't click Like because I never took medical leave if I am not actually sick.

and u are probably earning more money on youtube respect👑🤞🏽

I think in Singapore, sometimes HR etc will bug you to clear your annual leave if not they might be in trouble for "denying" employees of their entitled 14 days

So envious of your pay now as RU-vidr !,!!!

I used to work in a company that had many Japanese expats. I noticed when their time was up (project ended), they really didn't want to go back to Japan to work. Most of them wanted to stay on. I was told our work culture here is less stressful and demanding

I've been freelance since 2000 but we have had full-time employees working for us at various times. We offered PTO (paid time off as it is called in the US) which included vacation days, sick days and something called "personal" days. For the most part we loved our two full time employees and were very flexible with their schedule if they needed to leave early or come in late. One employee stayed for 9 years (which in the US is LONG). We still miss him because he was such a nice guy and worked hard. And unlike Japan, many US workers live for their vacation time.

この動画の情報だけですと、日本でもシンガポールでもかなり恵まれた環境で働いていらっしゃるようですね。大企業だからでしょうか。うらやましいです！

In Australia, annual leave is 20 days and sick leave is up to 30 days per annum.

Do note that not all company are the same. Some will not have the 14 days leave and I think most also won't get paid overtime. I'm happy you found a good one! 😎

Thanks for the crash course 😁😁

Hi Ghib, thanks for sharing. Maybe u could share the ppl culture between 2 countries. Are ur colleagues helpful? Hehe.. just a suggestion

There are also many industries that do long hours and 24/7 too in Spore. My colleagues and I used to start work at 7am and clock out at 8:30pm-10pm from Mon to Sat and Sun either half day or full day depending on your work. Not forgetting I had to bring home my work too to keep abreast of the work. That took 35 years of my life. Leave taking was minimal and we easily accumulate from 40-70 days and more for some until HR came out with ruling. Initially we could exchange for cash but later had to use up the annual leave within 2 yrs or lose it.

Hi Ghib, yeah... I heard about the long working hours in Japan and Korea. In Singapore, if you don't use up your leave, your Boss will come after you and tell you to go on leave. 😄 Cause from what I understood, employees who don't use up their leave will be compensated and most employers avoid that. 🤷‍♀️

日本語の字幕をつけてありがとう。🙇🏻‍♂️🇧🇷

Include all the food stalls u visited in ur future videos pls... 😊

Hmm it is true that we tend to stick to our job scope if possible. It also depends on the management and culture of each company. There are instances where we could help others but it ended up being permanently helping other dept BUT the depts don't help in return. I can say at my work place, that's what is happening to my dept. We were often asked to help out but end up being taken advantage/for granted and people keep coming to us for things that they can do themselves and ask us to do out of habit :/

Love the way you speak Japanese, so smooth.

日本での給与は若い時は額面から見えないメリットが多くあります。ただ、職種や会社によって給与も内容も違いますが。外資系及び海外で働いていた私は日本企業に勤めている友人の年金予測額に驚きましたよ〜。

I worked at a local company and had stable pay increment every year, and was promoted by my 3rd year at the job. After 5 years of working there, I went to work for a Japanese company in SG because I wanted to realize my dream of working in a Japanese company. They couldn't match my salary and I took a pay cut to join the company. 5 years later today, I'm still earning less than what I earned previously. One thing I also noticed was that whenever someone in a managerial position goes back to Japan, HQ will move a new personnel to SG, which means I have no career progression. I'm used to working OT in my industry (although we have no OT pay) but I was surprised that my Japanese colleague mentioned that he was happy that he got to knocked off at 11pm here in SG. I learnt that he used to work to 2-3am and on weekends back in JP, so 11pm was comparatively better. Not necessarily saying that SG>JP since I feel like I learnt quite a few things here, and also like you mentioned, you get to be exposed to more than what your job scope entails. As for long term working, I would still prefer to work in a SG company (although I'm still working in the JP company)

great video

You should change the title of this video. It's WAY more informative then just a simple salary comparison

Hi, Ghib. May I ask if you could make a video on how your process of looking for a job abroad and landing it went? I have been long wanting to move out of my country and Singapore is one of the countries on my radar, alongside Australia and others. I'd really like your perspective on how the whole process went :)

I live and work in Tokyo. People don’t leave on time. Long hours of meeting with no objective. Nobody understands their role. No clear responsibilities. Leaders and managers are promoted because of seniority not ability (its basically 20 years of 1 year experience not 20 years of experience) Took a pay cut to be here. While I enjoy what Japan has to offer outside the office, watching your videos make me miss home (SG). Keep up the great vids and glad to see you enjoying what my country can offer.

A lot of workmen in SG earning under $4600 don’t get paid overtime, a lot of companies will state that in the contract.

So are you still working in Singapore or as full time youtuber? Thanks video!

Ghib: "Press the like button if you have ever done that" Me: **Sweats** I just want to like the video.....

The Singapore work culture you’ve described is a very lucky situation in Singapore…

Interesting facts. Hope to chance upon you in Chinatown

I can't agree more. I've experienced the same transition as a bilingual japanese residing in Malaysia. Working for a japanese company, especially when its size is small or medium, was the unhealthiest moment of my life as an employee but i've learned a lot at the same time as theres no clear division in terms of job responsibility.

I have Japanese friends working in SG and even on their off days, they still have to meet their boss and go for business drinking where the boss just complains about his stress on the job, as if my friend did not experience stress too..😂

Actually, the MOM law says minimum 7 days of leave. When I was working previously in a Japanese company here in Singapore, I only had 7 days of leave. けち。。。

Wao 😮good luck from japan

There's actually a pretty good Japanese cuisine stall in chinatown complex.

Don't know how come, I find this video content pretty interesting and "enlightening" this time💘👍. Lol. So for many of us locals, before we complain next time, let us remember that our situation isn't as bad as other cnty/ places esp in terms of work culture😁🙊. And if there are ugly work/ office politics (I mean in SG) to gripe about, then we should blame ourselves for joining in or contributing to the situation. Every person has the choice to walk away, altho sometimes it may be difficult but can still be done de lah. And speaking of open, gosh ghib san is overly open... being paid $4.6k for an exec level position is considered well paid you know😲😍😳?! Generally speaking, an exec level for a local pays around $2.5-3.5k depending on job scope and experience. $4.6 is senior exec already. Anyway, I am surprised by ghib san's open sharing, n thanks for that bcoz he highlighted the cultural difference very clearly. Hmm me thinking. His open sharing and weekly drinking+chat session every Sunday night etc are slowly turning him into our "national" son. Like our son, lol😜😅🤗. Maybe I am thinking too much, maybe I am a little too careful but I do mean well. Just a reminder to ghib san to exercise a little more caution on the openness part. In SG, its generally safe but still you'll never know what kind of crazy ppl are out there. So yeah, just be careful lah and please take care... you are our sonny, lol 😁😇🙏🌻.

Claypot rice (one of my favourite too)

could you do one with working in australia and singapore? probably interview an australian in singapore? curious

Ghib, it's safer to say that the laws in Singapore safeguards most workers in Singapore, particularly those who are blue-collar workers. Then again, it's no 100% protection. What you've highlighted are issues pertaining to office workers. Those who're in service and retail sectors typically get paid between $1000 to $2000 the max. The annual leaves and sick leaves are between 7 to 14 days each and for the most part, staff almost always get only get the minimum because companies tend to exploit workers in legal ways. The Employment Act in Singapore, according to some companies, is just a guideline that the government doesn't strictly enforce. Should companies fail to follow the regulations, it's then up to the employees to file formal complaint to the Ministry of Manpower to address the issues and this usually takes a long while to be settled. Lots of pros and cons but I guess it's all about getting used to work systems.

This video is very educational and most of it are right. My personal opinion is that if working as an expat where your company pay for the rent, healthcare, and give allowance for living expense, I will choose SG. If working normally for non rich normal people, JP offers more equality and quality. Biggest for me is the healthcare, everyone covered same way rich or poor, local or foreigner without upper limit. Second is the rent, sharing apartment here in JP is very rare, rent is a lot cheaper in JP (e,g, one bedroom in SG is 2000$ above, in Tokyo around 1000$ suburbs 500$. ) However hardest part here in JP is the language requirements. Most companies will not accept non JP speaking people.

if you hv potential, sg always welcomes you and treats you properly and fairly no matter who you are. That's why sg has become so advanced and rich, and this is the reason why msia be left behind.

As a comparison, in the USA, salary and benefits vary from industry to industry. My last job for a healthcare communications company in silicon valley (San Jose, CA) we didn't get sick leave, it's combined with vacation leave. That's common. Most professional jobs in silicon valley have higher salaries because of the high cost of living. If your a manager, your expected to work 55 to 60 hours per week. I would work 8 to 5 pm, go home with my company laptop and work 7 pm to 9 pm or later. I would frequently work Saturdays. I would check and respond to emails at all times of the night. Of course job requirements would vary, even from company to company.

From my observation of my Japanese friends working in japan. I think Singaporean will have hard time adjusting to the work ethic, teamwork and dedication they put into their work. You will be a happy customer, if you work with the Japanese firm and you account handle by a Japanese. likewise i hate to say this, in Singapore sometime only words like escalate will only work with some ppl. Happy Working.

Thanks for sharing! In Japan can you convert annual leave to cash?

working in Japan now. want to say we can still change job to find a higher paid and better conditioned job. They exists :)

Great sharing

Hi thought of clarifying that workman isn't referring to white collar worker. It is still referring to workers who take on manual work. Overtime pay for white collar workers is only eligible to those drawing below 2.6k

Hi Ghib, just a word of caution about the last part of your video. You need a license as well as be a Singaporean or PR if you're going to act as a property agent. Don't fall foul of the laws here!

Sorry to ask, just wondering does the salary can be different if you're a local vs foreigner for respective countries Japan and Singapore?

Job scope in SG company? It really depends. I have a job scope written very briefly into my contract when I joined my current company. 2 years later, I am doing work that cover 4 different departments. Welcome to Singapore.

Man, Japanes people are really cool & relaxed, love your vlogs, well wishes from India ❤️

Ghib, thanks for being so transparent in disclosing your previous salary. I thought it was interesting to learn about the differences working in Singapore vs Japan. Just wanted to add a point on Singapore working culture, actually working for OT without OT pay is quite common in SG as you have highlighted. OT pay is only eligible for office employees drawing less than $2,500 monthly and are not workmen (technical related). That's why Singapore is one of the most stressful countries in the world (Not as bad as Tokyo though)

Huhu i miss singapore duebto covid lost my job many of my colleagues been retrench

Very very true

ジブおじさん、将来お願いすると思いますのでよろしくお願いします！

英語すごく上手ですね！給料も高いしｗ　同じくシンガポールにて、私は10才上ですが、給料もそんなに大差ではないな…

You just forced me to like your video haha

It's tough working in Japan !

you didn't cover the bonus - variable or fixed 13th month. Many companies in SG have stopped paying 13th month "bonus" which isn't a bonus in the first place - you can read up how it came about easily. Variable bonus make up a sizeable portion of salary as per annum, but of course some companies switched to paying fix sum every month and do away with the variable bonus already.

Awesome but for sales there's commission too? Or do they not count that in Japan? My Taiwanese friends have only four days rest per month depending on what they work.

Brother...can you share you passive income secrets other than a full time job?

l heard they have KFC Buffet restaurant in Osaka and Tokyo, but unfortunately Singapore doesn't have KFC Buffet. Hope they bring it to SG one day!

@ghib san, how about bonus payout comparison? Do u know recent news of Sheng Siong paying 16mths of bonus!

As I understand, Japanese salaryman usually receive bonus twice a year on which each bonus roughly equal to 2 months worth of basic salary for bigger company. It will be interesting to know how does bonus payment work in Singapore to have a better comparison in annual income between the two countries.

Wow - if your salary is considered average/high, how do people pay for the astronomical housing costs/mortgage in Singapore? If the pay is even lower in Japan, with the even higher living costs, how do people get by? In Silicon Valley a lot of companies no longer have set leave days - it's billed as "unlimited leave" but of course, with the fast paced workload - "unlimited" really isn't reality but people do take days off here and there and sometimes one longer vacation a year that can be 3 weeks long. So it nets out to be about the same as regular leave. But rarely is one fully "off" even on vacation. With electronic tethers (email, Slack) and WFH now, it's hard to draw the line between work and personal life - things kind of ebb and flow more depending on projects and deadlines but generally it tends to longer work hours because there is no longer the physical "checking off" from work. On flip side, no hours spent commuting (which can take easily 3 hours+ here) is time saved in the day. I 'll be honest, even with this flexible model, it's always a struggle to finish all the work needed within the "work day". It's a constant struggle to maintain enough balance so one doesn't hit burnout. That's a very real thing here in SV.

Which stall did you get the Claypot chicken rice from in the video?