In 2007, I came from India to work for one of the public sector projects in Singapore. During the initial settling phase itself, the new guys were bullied by the project managers and all are Singaporean PRs. I guess they wanted  to prove their own worth.

Many of these managers had prior experience with similar public sector projects in Singapore. Since this  was my first onsite trip, I struggled for a while but later managed to adjust to the situation.

Unfortunately, during this period,  I faced certain health issues, had a surgery  and took a couple of weeks off to recuperate.

When I returned to work,  my program manager  asked me to do him a favour by working overtime for another assignment in another project.

This senior manager was extremely bossy and known for being hard. However, I thought that this was a good chance to prove myself and so I accepted the challenge and started working even harder to fulfil the tasks in both projects. My role at that time was of a senior developer.

Fortunately, I started enjoying my time in this other project and was glad  to receive  some appreciation by colleagues and managers. And finally it ended up with a positive feedback.

Then came the annual appraisal in the mid of 2008. This senior/program manager recommended me for a promotion in the initial phase of the appraisal process.

And this was in spite of the negative feedback of my immediate project manager who disliked me. Then came the final phase of the appraisal process which was decided by the senior/middle management based on vertical and company profits. It was during this time that my immediate project manager became a real bully.

He passed a lot of underline comments, sometimes became abusive, and tried his best to undermine all my hard work. He behaved as if my tasks counted for nothing, and could not be achieved without his inputs (none of which he actually ever gave).

He also tried to keep me out of the loop including those discussions/meetings which directly related to my tasks.

Eventually,  this subtle bullying tactic frustrated me alot and I discussed  the matter with my colleagues – many of them were facing similar heat from this manager directly or indirectly. But none of them wanted to raise the issue with the management  because it was appraisal time and everyone wanted to play safe.

Finally, because of his negative and biased behaviour, my appraisal was screwed (an average rating)!

The senior manager also blamed me because I discussed the bullying matter  with the other  fellow colleagues. After that, I started to search for another job in Singapore, but nothing worked so far (being on Employment Pass was also a factor).

Then in early 2009, the chairman of this previous company got involved in a huge scam. The company was in a lot of trouble and it was hell with alot of sleepless nights.

Everyone  in the company was afraid of losing their jobs and were just appeasing their bosses. I took it as an opportunity to pursue some certifications and credentials, hoping that it may help me find another job quickly.

In next few months, I completed one technical certification and one project management credential (PMP). Everyone thought that I will definitely leave now  and strangely  things (bullying) improved a bit.

Unfortunately,  I did not get any job offer, and eventually in early 2010 my program manager (he was a new one, the earlier one was thrown out by the company in mid of 2009) asked me to contribute more by working overtime for another assignment in other project - this was completely off the record.

Once again I agreed hoping that it would be another learning phase for me. But it turned out to be another nightmare. That project was the worst I have ever managed and it was a horrible mess. Till today, I do not understand why the client – a Singapore public sector company did not sue them.

Eventually, I had to say no to that project’s leadership and came out of it.

Now this senior manager used this as a negative point against me. He even criticized me for my work, overlooking all the hard work that I had put in. Before that I thought that this guy was cool, but then I understood what others said about him was true.

Then came the appraisal process of 2010, it was during this time that this senior manager asked to do a huge task all alone without a team, and the timeline given was totally impractical. In spite of all my effort and hard work, my appraisal was completely screwed and this was the worst in my career.

The sole reason was that this management wanted some scapegoats because the project’s contract extension was almost denied by the client and they had already put up a tender. That was the first time I felt that I did a mistake by coming in this IT industry. Maybe I am too simple a person for such cheap/unprofessional politics and tactics.

Finally by God’s grace, that horrible project was taken away by the client in the end of 2010. And then the company asked everyone in the project team to either leave  or go back to offshore where at that time, the situation was worse and the future was insecure.

It was during that time that I got a job offer – a permanent one from my present company which was a reputed IT company based out of Singapore. So I resigned and  joined my present company in early 2011.

Here I enjoyed the first 2 days of the company’s induction program. After that I had to meet my supervisor who happened to be one of the directors (by designation).

I will never forget my first meeting with that classy lady. She was not only demoralizing but abusive also. It was my third/fourth day in the company. You can imagine my pain. How can someone join under such a person? I simply did not understand that if the directors feel so uncomfortable talking to people at my level (a project lead), then why should we directly report to them. Can they not create a hierarchy to streamline the process and the person of contact?

After that I met my project manager who initially happened to be nice but was completely out of control of his team. He was even bullied by them. That made things worse for me also.

Here most of the project managers are sitting ducks. Some of them even prefer doing the low level tasks on their own just to avoid their team bullies. When these project managers are not in control, then how can they make sure that a new team member gets a nice environment. These managers often pretend as if they are in control of their team and they are the ones on whose order the bullies are being bullied. In reality, these project managers now do not have a choice.

And above all, this Director and her Vice President (whom she reports to) simply ignore whatever is happening. It appears as if they are enjoying all this!

I have  worked here for last 15 months, and I still do not understand how this abusive bullying culture satisfies the desires of the management. The HR is completely ineffective because of the involvement of the senior management.

Honestly, there are many more victims in this company. I feel more upset when I see them giving in to this bullying culture. What should I do? How to report this and to whom (and what would be the consequences thereafter)? Is there any LAW against such targeted bullying in Singapore? Or is this the true face of today’s IT industry in Singapore?

Please suggest something practical and effective.

Being bullied

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Hi Being bullied,

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