“Are you buying a car now that the baby’s coming?” I asked my brother-in-law recently.
“No, it’s cheaper to Grab,” he said. He had done the math: owning a sedan in Singapore easily costs around $1,900 a month but taking two $25 Grab rides every single day comes out to $1,500. It made a car owner like me look like a financial idiot.
What most of us haven’t realized is that this exact “pay-per-use” mindset has quietly rewired the corporate world. Hiring a full-time employee is the corporate equivalent of buying a car, a permanent, high-maintenance, fixed monthly liability. In today’s economic climate, companies no longer want to pay for ownership when they can just pay-per-use with a fractional hire.
That’s why industry data shows demand for fractional executives and project-based talent surging over 140% year-on-year. By switching to a fractional model, companies cut up to 50% in fully loaded overhead like CPF, medical benefits, and severance risk. (FractionalJobs.io)
Why Can’t You Find Your Old Job?
Corporate hiring has shifted because companies seem to be outsourcing non-core support roles instead of keeping them on permanent payroll. This helps them to cut fixed overhead like CPF, medical benefits, and severance.
If you examine recent Big Tech restructurings across firms like Google, Meta, and Microsoft, the non-core support functions especially Talent Acquisition, Middle Management, Public Relations, and Marketing, bore the brunt of the layoffs, with some recruiting teams slashed by up to 50%. (Solo Point Solutions)
This doesn’t mean companies no longer need PR, marketing, or talent acquisition. It simply means corporate buyers have found a leaner, more agile way to buy those outcomes. Instead of taking on the fixed monthly overhead of a full-time employee, salary, employer CPF contributions, medical benefits, office space, and severance risk, businesses are shifting these functions off permanent payroll and onto outsourcing budget.
Data from The Fractional Work Report 2026 confirms this permanent structural shift toward variable, pay-per-use labor:
- Soaring Hiring Demand: Open postings for fractional executives and project-based specialists surged 149% year-on-year.
- The Cost Driver: Hiring a senior specialist on a fractional basis (e.g., 10 to 15 hours a week) costs companies roughly 50% less in fully-loaded costs compared to paying a full-time executive salary with benefits, CPF, and equity options.
- Who Is Buying: Venture-backed startups and growth-stage firms make up over 45% of fractional hires. The top functions in demand are Project Managers (ranked #1 in open postings), Marketing/CMOs, Finance/CFOs, and Talent Acquisition/Recruiters.
- Not Cheap Junior Labor: 87% of fractional operators have 11+ years of experience. Companies aren’t outsourcing to cut corners on quality; they are buying battle-tested, senior expertise on a pay-per-use basis.
I know that many still need a full-time job for financial security. But if you have been stuck in the job search loop for a year or two, these alternative models offer a practical way forward, even while you continue hunting for full-time roles. Who knows? You might find them so viable that you decide to stick with them long-term.
P.s. These paths aren’t just for job seekers; they are increasingly used by currently employed professionals who simply want an alternative to relying entirely on a single corporate headcount.
Path 1: Build Your Own Platform and Sell Directly to Market
I was walking past a venue recently and noticed a job fair taking place next door. I dropped in and spotted LinkedIn creator and HR Tech strategist Adrian Tan addressing the room.
Rather than sharing standard resumé tweaks or interview tips, Adrian turned the entire session on its head. He spoke candidly about building a personal brand as a solopreneur. By writing consistently and hosting podcasts centered on his specific domain expertise (HR Tech) he built public authority so that he no longer had to rely on a traditional full-time job.
He chose not to work full-time because by sharing insights online, packaging his domain knowledge, and building public authority, he created an engine where clients reach out to him inbound. Today, corporate buyers approach him directly, paying $5,800 for a single one-hour keynote or $1,200 for a sponsored post, no cold calls required.
Listening to him, coupled with my own observations, two key philosophies stand out:
- Enterprise Equity vs. Personal Authority: Most professionals spend decades building their employer’s brand while neglecting to build their own.
- Stop Waiting to Be Saved: In a pay-per-use economy, true career stability comes from building an independent voice and skill stack that nobody has the power to fire you from.
For job seekers: Even as you send out applications today, start writing and sharing three or four detailed stories about your specific niche. You’ll be surprised, even in seemingly crowded or technical fields, genuine subject matter experts are remarkably rare. A friend of mine trying to market his cybersecurity company and build employer branding recently complained that he couldn’t find a single decent local influencer in the space; most were just loud without any real domain substance. If you want to see who is currently occupying your space, check out creator analytics platforms like Favikon.
Path 2: Design a Portfolio Career Around Your Value
Consider my friend Alex, a former civil servant. During his tenure in government, he was a top performer who built an app still used daily by civil servants across Singapore.
To be clear, Alex was never retrenched. He chose not to work full-time because after starting a family, he wanted full control over his schedule rather than leasing 100% of his time to a single organization. Instead of searching for another standard 9-to-6 corporate role, Alex transitioned to a standalone portfolio model by modularizing his expertise:
- Higher Education: Teaching specialized modules at local polytechnics and institutes of higher learning.
- Corporate Consultancy: Taking on short-term corporate projects and strategy retainers for private firms.
If he wants to maximize his income in a given quarter, he scales up his teaching modules and consulting projects. If he wants more time with his kids, he scales back.
For job seekers, a portfolio approach doesn’t mean giving up on full-time employment. Taking on short-term advisory projects, contract modules, or fractional assignments right now provides immediate cash flow, keeps your skills sharp, and builds market confidence while you evaluate your long-term options.
Path 3: Turn Your Expertise into Your Own Business Asset
Take Richard, the founder of 1° Coffee. He spent years climbing the corporate ladder as a PMET at Hewlett-Packard (HP) before being retrenched. Faced with a sudden career interruption, he decided against spending months sending out resumés for corporate roles that were rapidly shrinking.
Richard took his corporate background, combined it with a passion for specialty coffee, and launched 1° Coffee. You might recognize their signature cold brew by its iconic flat, glass “whiskey bottle” shape. It was a brilliant piece of product design and commercial positioning: the bottle held 300ml, roughly two-thirds the volume of a standard cold brew cup, allowing him to sell at a comparable price point while delivering higher margins and a memorable, premium product image.
For job seekers: If you have the financial runway, give yourself permission to pause for a defined window. Acknowledging the financial privilege his previous corporate salary provided, my friend chose not to join the frantic, panic-driven job application queue. Instead, he became “Leonardo da Vinci”, spending his days drawing, writing, and exploring ideas he never had time for while climbing the corporate ladder.
Reclaiming Our “Towkay” DNA
Stepping outside the comfort of a corporate role can feel daunting, but being an independent business owner (Towkay) is deeply rooted in our local history.
In the 1960s and 1970s, nearly 15% of Singapore’s workforce were self-employed towkays, running provision shops, trading outfits, and hawker stalls without corporate safety nets. Today, that number has dropped to roughly 8.5% of the resident workforce, with nearly half concentrated in ride-hailing, delivery, real estate, and insurance.
We simply institutionalized an entire generation into relying exclusively on corporate lanyards. My own grand-aunt ran a humble fruit and food stall from a pushcart outside schools. She managed that small operation with such financial discipline that she eventually bought a new home for her parents and younger siblings.
The old adage of “study hard and get a stable job” is a relic of an era that no longer exists. If you want true career security today, you have to productise yourself, own your expertise, and become a product that nobody has the power to fire.
About Eileen Soh
Eileen Soh is a Southeast Asia geopolitical and cybersecurity intelligence analyst at a Fortune 500 company, with 13 years of experience in Singapore national security. She works to find threats and opportunities in cyber and geopolitics, and translates complex ideas into clear policy recommendations for senior leaders.
Before writing publicly, Eileen spent more than a decade writing for senior decision-makers in government. Working for readers with little time taught her to get to the point quickly and catch the attention of busy people in 90 seconds.
Today, she applies the same discipline on LinkedIn, where she writes about intelligence, cybersecurity, geopolitics, strategic communications and professional reputation. She also leads Block173.com, which interviews successful people in Singapore to find out “how they did it”.
She has spoken at Women in Tech and the Singapore University of Social Sciences, and has been featured in The Straits Times and on The Flying Dutchman’s Morning Drive radio show.
Want to bring your business story to her 10,000 followers? Drop her a message here.
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