Grab Lays Off 360 Employees, But Gives Them 1.5 Months’ Bonus & Their Work Laptop

Grab Offers Financial, Health & Mental Support For Retrenched Employees

As companies feel the impact of Covid-19, many have had to take drastic actions to stay afloat. But not many offer a severance package that promises to take care of not only employees’ financial, but also health needs.

Grab announced on Tuesday (16 Jun) that 360 of their employees, or about 5% globally were let go, in what their CEO Anthony Tan called the “last” retrenchment exercise this year.

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However, they’ve offered these employees a wide range of benefits, including medical coverage until the end of the year, and 1.5 months’ bonus on top of their severance pay.

Extra severance pay and allowed to keep work laptops

The 360 retrenched employees were all promised various benefits in a note sent to them by the CEO.

This includes the following:

• Severance pay – either pegged to 0.5 months per 6 months of completed service, or based on local guidelines, whichever is higher
• Further separation payment of 1.5 months’ salary
• Medical insurance coverage until the end of the year
• Maternity and paternity leave encashed, for those either expecting or whose wife is
• Unused leave encashed
• Transition support to next job
• Emotional support for 3 months from the last date of employment
• Allowing them to keep their work laptop

Covid-19 has made finding a new job highly difficult even compared to before, so bonus pay and medical coverage will be particularly helpful for departing employees.

Couldn’t avoid making cuts

Grab co-founder Mr Tan addressed the retrenchments in a note to employees, saying they tried to avoid making this move.

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Despite reducing salaries for senior management and cutting back on discretionary spending, there was still a need to make cuts and become more efficient.

There was also a need to prepare for an upcoming recession.

Moving forward, Grab will focus on adapting their services to the “new normal”.

Good to see company giving help

While it’s never good news to be laid off, it’s nice to see that Grab is pledging to take care of these employees while they ponder their next move.

Times are hard and may not get much better, even as countries around the world reopen.

It’s not only financial help that people may need but also mental support, and Grab pledging to offer emotional support for those who require it is an acknowledgement of the sometimes-hidden costs of retrenchment.

Hopefully the employees manage to find their footing in the coming months and that their situations improve.

Featured image adapted from Google Maps.