A grave problem: Demand for funeral services rising in Singapore, but high turnover, low pay and stigma hinder growth

SINGAPORE, July 15 — In his two years working in the funeral industry, Adrian’s boss was such a micromanager that he was allowed to buy his meals only within the vicinity of the office, even though his job required him to travel all over the island.

When he had to be on standby overnight, he was made to sleep in the funeral office, which was in an industrial area and the office space was cluttered with paper effigies and lanterns — a fire hazard waiting to happen.

Adrian, 31, who now works in the food-and-beverage industry and declined to reveal his full name, said that he left the job last year because he also saw little opportunity for growth.

“I saw many people in their 50s who were still doing the same things that I did when I first joined, so I thought my career would be stagnant if I stayed there.”

TODAY previously reported that the funeral industry has seen a wave of new companies trying to revitalise the sector, but interviews with several current and former employees found that longstanding problems remain, such as low wages and poor career development, leading to a high turnover and a perennial shortage of workers.

In the meantime, the number of deaths in Singapore’s ageing population has surged from 21,446 in 2019 to 26,888 in 2023, data from the Department of Statistics Singapore showed, making it ever more urgent for the industry to relook its manpower retention measures.

Long hours, low pay

A former undertaker who wished to be known only as Mike recalled his year in the funeral industry. It was 2022 and Singapore was still in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There were a lot of cases and also outbreaks in the office, and when we were short on manpower, it could be really taxing,” he said.

“Sometimes we had back-to-back cases, where we would conduct a funeral and then rush off immediately to collect another body from the mortuary,” the 34-year-old, who is now working in the hotel industry, said.

Mike often found himself working beyond his stipulated work hours because there were so many cases, all requiring immediate attention.

His company had a policy of arriving at a client’s house within 45 minutes of receiving a call, leading to many sleepless nights for him.

For all that hard, physical labour, he was earning a basic salary of about S$2,000 a month, with added allowances for each case he handled outside regular work hours.

That was why he was incredulous when a user on online forum Reddit recently wrote of being offered a salary of S$8,500 a month to work as an operations manager at a funeral company here, with a variable bonus of at least three months.

He was not the only one — many Reddit users who said that they had had experience in funeral services chimed in to express surprise and disbelief at the number.

Bernard Chen, 39, who worked for four years as a project executive and operations manager at funeral service provider Ang Chin Moh Foundation, said: “The fact that the comments on the post all express incredulity at a manager in the funeral industry earning S$8,500 clearly shows that people know how lowly paid the employees are.”

He added that because of the lack of career advancement for employees, many choose to freelance due to the possibility of earning more and having more flexible work schedules.

Chen himself is now working as a risk analyst at a consultancy that oversees the shipping industry in Singapore.

Stigma surrounding industry

The Redditor who had written about the S$8,500 job offer had another question for the forum: Was it hard for funeral industry workers to move on to other jobs because of stigma?

Most current and former workers who spoke to TODAY said that they did not face issues in that regard, but that the stigma came from their own friends and family.

Former embalmer Shane Edwards, 35, said: “My dad was pretty much against it, because first of all, the pay was not that great. Before this, I was working in the shipping industry and I used to earn double what I was earning (as an embalmer).

“He also said that I would expose myself to pathogens and carcinogens from the chemicals that we use and I also feared carrying (microbes) home and exposing my loved ones to it.”

It was only when he personally did the embalming for his paternal grandmother did he manage to change his father’s perspective about his job and the industry.

Family care assistant Sam Tan, 22, who works at Serenity Casket and Funerals, said that his family, too, initially held superstitious beliefs and asked him to cleanse himself with flower water daily upon returning home.

“But as time passed, they grew to accept my career choice and even entrusted me with the responsibility of being involved in their funerals when their time comes.”

When it comes to the job market, though, experience in funeral services is not an issue, with Adrian even saying that it served as a “booster” to his resume by functioning as a conversation starter.

Similarly, Edwards the former embalmer said that funeral industry employees are seen to have skills such as coordinating large-scale events in a fast-paced environment and willing to put in the hard work.

“I think it would be a loss for employers who discriminate based on experience, because these workers really have a lot to bring to the table.”

Agreeing, Hoo Hung Chye, executive director of the Association of Funeral Directors, said that employees in the funeral profession are sought after because they are “trained in sensitivity and understand what care, compassion and dignity is all about when they care for bereaved families”.

Strategies to retain talent

Still, the work is so tough that many young people leave the industry after just two or three months on the job, Jeffrey Lee said. He is the founder and managing director of Embrace Funeral Services.

In hopes of retaining talent for longer, the company is sponsoring staff members to attend upskilling courses, such as a bereavement course that includes learning how to conduct grief counselling.

Similarly, Elson Chong, the founder of Serenity Casket and Funerals, said that to ensure efficiency and prevent burnout, the company has introduced an on-call rotation system among teams.

“This rotation ensures that there is always a family care team available to meet the needs of families during peak hours while providing our directors with the flexibility they need to manage their work-life balance,” he added.

The company is also collaborating with non-profit organisations and schools to educate them about the industry and improve its image among the young.

“Through these collaborations, we aim to create synergies that benefit all parties involved, enhancing our ability to serve our community effectively,” Chong said.

Hoo from the Association of Funeral Directors said that funeral parlours here provide in-house training for staff members of different age groups and ethnicities and they have seen people from different social backgrounds and age groups joining the profession.

“As mainstream media continues to highlight the importance and nobility of the funeral profession, our hope is to see more people willing to join us to serve society.” — TODAY