'I assure you that this will be the last organization-wide layoff this year'
Grab announced Tuesday (16 June) that they’ll lay off 5% of its workforce, or about 360 employees.
In an employee note seen by HRD, Grab CEO and Co-Founder Anthony Tan said employees affected by the exercise would be informed through email by June 16, 1pm Singapore time, with guidance on next steps.
By today, their manager or an HR representative would have reached out to affected employees for a personal discussion, assured Tan.
“We understand this news will cause anxiety and dread,” he wrote. “Please know that we did not come to this decision lightly. We tried everything possible to avoid this but had to accept that the difficult cuts we are making today are required, because millions depend on us for a living in this new normal.
“We have always hired with the best of intentions for Grabbers to grow together with us. We are truly sorry for what’s happening today. To those who are impacted, we owe you an explanation.”
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Over the past few months, he said they’d made all the necessary cuts to keep the business operational through the COVID-19 crisis. They’d reviewed all costs, cut back on discretionary spending, and implemented pay cuts for senior management.
Despite efforts, it wasn’t enough to save the hard-hit business. Back in May, Andrew Chan, head of transport shared that their revenues continued to fall as earnings from their main business, ride-hailing, took a hit due to Singapore’s lockdown restrictions.
Grab had tried to offset losses as demand for food delivery surged as people stayed home through the Circuit Breaker. They also created job opportunities for drivers to switch to other services such as parcel and grocery delivery.
Even then, Tan labelled COVID-19 the “single biggest crisis to affect Grab”.
In the employee memo, he went on to share that they’re shutting down non-core projects, consolidating functions and right-sizing teams to “better match our change business needs given the external environment”.
“We were able to save many jobs through this redeployment of resources and it helped limit the scope of the reduction exercise to just under 5%,” he wrote.
“I assure you that this will be the last organization-wide layoff this year and I am confident as we execute against our refreshed plans to meet our targets, we will not have to go through this painful exercise again in the foreseeable future.”
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The retrenchment package
Tan urged employees to be patient as leaders worked to facilitate the retrenchment exercise “with a high degree of sensitivity and with utmost respect for your privacy”. He also encouraged employees to support each other.
On their part, the company offered the following benefits to affected staff:
- Severance payment of half a month for every six months of completed service, or based on local statutory guidelines, whichever is higher.
- Enhanced separation payment equivalent to about 1.5 months of salary on top of the severance pay as additional assistance during this COVID-19 crisis and bonus for work done in 2020.
- Waiver of annual cliffs for equity vesting, so that more Grabbers can leave as shareholders. This means that any outstanding unvested equity will vest monthly until the last date of employment.
- Medical insurance coverage until the end of this year through existing medical insurance, or a stipend equivalent.
- Maternity and paternity leave encashment for expecting mothers and male Grabbers whose wife is expecting, as of the last date of employment.
- Encashment of unused accrued annual leave and unused GrabFlex credits under staffs’ Flexible Spending Account.
- Career transition and development support in the form of outplacement support from their talent acquisition team and the creation of a talent directory that allows recruiters and companies to reach out to impacted Grabbers for opportunities.
- Access to sessions with a life coach and half a year’s worth of online career development tools, so affected staff can continue to grow in their personal and professional lives.
- Emotional support via the Grabber Assistance Program which staff will continue to be able to access for three months after the last date of employment.
- The option to keep laptops to support staff’s job search.
“For Grabbers leaving us, I understand the mix of emotions and anxieties you will go through over the next few days, weeks and months, and we wanted to address that by providing financial, professional, medical and emotional support,” he wrote.
Tan told employees they can reach him directly through email or Slack if they had any questions or simply needed a listening ear, and he’d “gladly receive your feedback and do my best to provide answers”.
“To the Grabbers who will be leaving us, each of you has made a lasting imprint on our region through your sacrifice, grit and determination,” he concluded. “I am deeply grateful for your efforts and we are where we are today because of you.
“Thank you for sharing your talent and passion with us. Thank you for enriching the lives of Grabbers, our customers, and partners through your contributions. You will always be part of the Grab family.”
