Is the Middle Class Disappearing? Reflections as an Early 40s Adult in Singapore
Recently, I have been struck by two things I watched that felt uncomfortably close to home. One was a video by The Joyful Investors , where Chief Corporate Officer from HRNetGroup shared that hiring demand today is strong at two ends of the spectrum: ground staff earning below SGD 5K, and C-suite executives above SGD 15K. However the mid-level employees, those in the SGD 5K to 15K range, are increasingly being squeezed out. The other was a video by CNA Insider , which highlighted that workers in their late 30s and early 40s are now more prone to retrenchment compared to other age groups. Hearing both points together made me pause. I am in my early 40s now, which means I fall right into that shrinking middle. Is the middle class disappearing and is the middle age groups facing some form of employability crisis? Even though I am self-employed, does that also mean that inevitably with time, my job (as a tutor) will also be replaced by AI? Is...