Singapore has officially evolved into a high-IQ wasteland where your private-hire driver likely has more academic publications than the idiot currently running your HR department.

A recent study by the Ministry of Manpower confirms that 20% of the local workforce is overqualified, which is government-speak for “we over-educated these people and now they are fetching Kopi-Siew-Dai.”

Shockingly, nine out of ten of these over-educated peasants claim they are in these brain-dead roles “by choice,” proving that the Singapore Dream has shifted from “climbing the corporate ladder” to “hiding in a corner until 6 PM.”

“I have a First-Class Honours in Aerospace Engineering, but I find that being a warehouse packer really helps me focus on my true passion: being a complete slacker,” says 27-year-old Tan Ah Hock.

He notes that calculating the structural integrity of a Boeing 747 was way too much work compared to the thrill of taping cardboard boxes while listening to a podcast about serial killers.

The Ministry suggests that this trend is driven by a desire for “work-life balance,” because apparently, spending $100k on a degree just to work a job that requires the mental capacity of a ham sandwich is a “lifestyle choice.”

Employers are reportedly “shiok” with the situation, as they can now hire a literal rocket scientist to do basic data entry for the price of a monthly bus pass and a packet of chicken rice.

“It’s great for the economy because our janitors now understand the molecular structure of the bleach they are using to scrub the toilets of people who failed PSLE,” a government spokesperson probably thought but didn't say.

Experts believe the real reason for this shift is that the average Singaporean boss is such a toxic, micro-managing lanciao that smart people would rather work as a security guard just to be left the fuck alone.

As the overqualification rate continues to climb, universities are considering replacing their curriculum with a three-year intensive course on “How To Not Correct Your Boss When He Says Something Incredibly Stupid.”

The government remains optimistic, noting that if the economy collapses, Singapore will at least have the most academically decorated group of people waiting in the unemployment line in human history.