Cathay Pacific dropped a bombshell this week when it announced its biggest layoff in 20 years, and some 600 staffs were axed due to company restructuring. It has been the second wave of job cuts from Cathay in recent times and that has led us to thinking; Does a corporate job still guarantee job security?

Let’s dive into the recent numbers to help find an answer.

Within the past year, HSBC has laid off 25,000 staff globally and 120 headcounts locally. Hong Kong Disneyland has retrenched 100 staffs. The large-scale sackings continue with ESPN, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s across the globe.

The sad fact is, that in the corporate world, when revenue descends into the red and sales fizzle out, employees become headcounts instead of talents. Merely trimmable expenses rather than human capital.

It has come to a time when a corporate job no longer means a steady paycheck while startup businesses are blooming — startups, tech startups in particular, are craving for talents more than at anytime in the past four years, according to the Silicon Valley Bank.

As a startup employee at Jobable, allow me to lay out for you some of the benefits that a startup job might bring:

A fun, open, respectful working environment

Some of the more frequent complaints I get from my peers who have corporate jobs are about rigid hierarchy or bureaucratic work environment: Asking questions when confused is perceived as incompetence, disagreeing with your boss is considered rude and not knowing your place. No one should challenge the status quo or you’re a rebel.

None of this is usually found in a startup job.

I work in an open office where an intern can speak directly to the CEO and a new hire of the company can give feedback to experienced professionals. Diversified opinions are not only accepted but encouraged in meetings, bold ideas are embraced and actually executed.

On top of that, occasional lunchtime pizza feast, beers after work, team hangout (like actual hangout where someone gets drunk), table football on Friday (or any weekday), sandals and jeans as work attire … Yup, all these perks at work sounded too cool for business, I know.

Flexible working schedule

Discipline plays a huge part in a corporate job. The typical nine to six work troll, the queuing for lunch in the company canteen, the counting down the hours so you can stroll out for home. If you are an individual who like the predictables and repetitive, then all the best for your future endeavours in the world of order! However, if the above scenario sounds a little tedious to you (hi-five from over here), maybe it’s time to take a leap to the startup world!

In a startup job, the culture usually accepts the fact that everyone has their own working rhyme and pattern of which they can generate optimal results for assigned tasks. Some people are more productive in early mornings, while others might be more likely to find their ding moments in the late nights.

All in all, the time you enter or leave the office is considered secondary to getting your work done and doing it to a high standard. A way more humane approach of management right?