Motion is not Progress - Anonymous employee GIC Employee Review

1.0
7 Sept 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Well stocked pantry Modernised offices (though open plan) New policies on sick leave and courses are appreciated There are folks who care deeply about the founding principles of the firm, to safeguard Singapore’s reserves.

Cons

The below points are for corporate services. C-suite and MDs unwilling or unable to address ground concerns on how many major organization changes (people, policy, finance, tech) are hastily/ poorly executed despite the good intents behind those initiatives. Grownswell of discontent and frustration is left unmanaged/ unacknowledged. A facade of normalcy reigns during the multiple opportunities to do so. Despite many visible senior hires over the past year (including a C suite), tech strategy and roadmap has yet to be communicated and shared. The last roadmap was three/ four years ago during a major digital push, and appears to have lost much of its steam. A lot of projects have artificially inflated business value and are positioned as “strategic”, despite a recent push towards cost rigour. No central project planning processes at the enterprise level, which leaves senior managers a lot of creativity in justifying projects and in turn, their continued existence. Often, dissenting opinions are shutdown even before being surfaced to decision makers. For majority of the tech developers starting out in their careers, expect limited technical growth due to lean staff strength and lack of technical coaching. The firm has yet to take a firm stance on insourcing/ outsourcing developers. Teams largely work in silos, so there is not a lot of opportunity to cross cultivate and learn tech skills.

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Pros

Small deal teams, given a lot of autonomy

Cons

Can have process overhead, expected to be responsive at all times during work week

1.0
21 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

"People-first" culture (though this is rapidly eroding, see Cons)

Cons

Technology Group (TG) and the former Data Strategy Group (DSG) are nothing short of toxic. Under the direction of COO Sam Kim Yong Sang, we are witnessing a cold, calculated "silent layoff" campaign. Long-tenured staff who have given their best years to the firm are being funneled into mass PIPs that are designed for failure, not growth. This isn't about performance. It’s a transparent maneuver to trim headcount and hit aggressive KPI targets without the PR fallout of a formal redundancy. Management is treating human beings like line items on a spreadsheet, ignoring the devastating impact on families and the mental health of loyal employees. The TG leadership has become a puppet for these metrics, destroying the very culture of trust that took decades to build.

10
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