Overworked and Underpaid Filipino Engineer
Call me your typical millenial Filipino engineer. I like to travel, take pictures of my food and take girls out on a date.
But I would say I work harder compared to my colleagues. I’ve been a civil engineer for three years now, working for a big company here in the country but given my age and experience, I am still in a junior position.
Unlike the rest of my peers who are okay with their disposition, I am not. I want to get promoted as soon as I can.
I know I have a lot to learn in my field and I try my best to learn from my superiors.
I am grateful for finding a job as soon as I graduated especially now that there are so many civil engineers here in the Philippines.
I tell you, the competition nowadays is really tough. I hear a lot of stories about fresh graduates finding a hard time looking for work that suits their skills, while there are other engineers who settled for jobs that don’t apply what they learned in college.
However, if I have something I want to complain about – it’s the agonizing truth that I (along with other young engineers in this country face) am overworked and underpaid.
While I enjoy the tasks handed to me by my superiors, I feel like the work can be exhausting.
I often find myself mentally and physically tired right after I go home.
Often than not, my superiors give me projects which I am forced to spend more time with than necessary.
It’s hard especially if I want to keep in touch with my family and friends.
On my first two years in my work, I still get to travel every month to different islands in the Philippines – Palawan, Bohol, Cebu, and even in Davao.
Can I just say that Davao is such a cool place to be in? How organized is that place? But Palawan, man, it’s just paradise.
On my third year in my work, I noticed how my supervisors assign more projects to me.
I kept hearing promises of a raise but I’m not getting any.
It’s hard being a Filipino engineer here in Asia – especially if you’re just starting a life in the Philippines.
The salary can be bad. While there are lucky ones who are paid a huge amount of money, there are some of us who just aren’t paid enough.
Aside from my daily expenses and my traveling, I also help out with the expenses around the house.
If there’s anything I want, right now, I want to earn enough money where I can save money or invest on different things.
Yes, I sound like an entitled millennial who thinks I deserve more in life.
But to be fair, I really do work hard and living in Manila can be financially draining.
I work overtime yet I don’t think I’m well compensated with my work.
If I don’t take up the challenges my supervisors give me, that would really look bad on my annual performance review.
Now, who would want that, right?
Here I am. A junior Filipino engineer who is overworked and underpaid.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who is experiencing this. I know because my friends who are engineers feel this as well.
If you look at it, it’s not only engineers who experience it here. Other professions do as well.
So, sino mag-a-adjust? (So, who will adjust?)
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