Agency maintains that move is 'not an AI-driven downsizing exercise'
Singapore's Government Technology Agency (GovTech) has laid off 93 employees as part of a workforce restructure that its chairman maintains is not driven by the rise of artificial intelligence tools, according to reports.
GovTech chairman Chng Kai Fong said the retrenchments are under the first phase of its two-year restructuring process, which is expected to impact seven to nine per cent of the agency's about 3,900-strong workforce, The Business Times reported.
As part of the first phase, a total of 102 employees affected by the restructure have been retained, another 110 were put into apprenticeships to reskill, while 93 employees were retrenched.
The affected employees include those in project delivery and vendor management roles, according to Chng, with six of the agency's forward deployed teams and one of its central functions impacted.
Retrenched staff will receive one month's salary per year of service, capped at 25 years, a three-month ex-gratia payment, and salary and benefits through a six-week notice and handover period.
A Ministry of Manpower spokesperson confirmed the package exceeds recommendations under the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment.
The Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees (AUSBE) said it was brought into the process early and helped negotiate terms beyond what the collective agreement requires.
General secretary Gabriel Ng said the union's priority had been to mitigate the impact on affected officers and identify alternatives to retrenchment, including retraining and redeployment.
"This creates meaningful pathways for officers to reskill and transition into roles that support the agency's future direction," he said as quoted by The Business Times.
Not because of AI
Chng, who also serves as Permanent Secretary for Digital Development and Information, said the restructuring predates the current wave of AI adoption.
"This is not an AI-driven downsizing exercise. This shift began years before the current AI wave," he said in a note to staff, as reported by The Business Times.
The changes at GovTech are aimed at moving it away from overseeing vendor-delivered projects towards building and operating its own products directly.
Chng said the shift is necessary to give the agency greater control and agility over critical government digital infrastructure, adding that the agency expects to employ more people once the transition is complete.
"GovTech is changing shape, not shrinking," he said.
The scope of the second phase of restructuring is expected to be announced by November, with a third phase to follow.
Chng said the agency chose a more deliberate pace of change over a drawn-out transition relying on natural attrition.
"Every year of delay leaves critical systems older and widens the gap between what Singaporeans need and what GovTech's current model can deliver," he said.
