Lazada committed to supporting Southeast Asia employees affected by layoffs
Lazada has laid off 5% of its workforce in Southeast Asia, including a number of roles in Singapore.
A spokesperson for the e-commerce company told The Straits Times on Tuesday (23 June) that the company was “reviewing selected roles across Southeast Asia”.
Source: Google Maps
Affected Lazada staff informed directly by HR
Lazada has a presence in six countries in the region, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Its Singapore staff work from the Lazada One building in Bras Basah Road.
Affected employees were notified of their retrenchment directly by the company’s human resources team on Tuesday (23 June), ST understands.
Those whose roles are affected will be “engaged directly” with “care, respect and dignity”, the spokesperson said, adding:
We are committed to supporting affected employees through the transition with relevant guidance and support, in line with applicable requirements.
Layoffs reportedly not due to AI initiatives
While Lazada did not reveal how many staff and which roles were affected by the layoffs, The Business Times (BT) reported that the cuts were not due to artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.
Rather, they were based on business needs, role requirements and organisational efficiency.
Source: Google Maps
The company will support affected employees with the help of relevant government entities and agencies, working with the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) in Singapore.
Lazada informed union of layoffs in advance
FDAWU general secretary Sankaradass S Chami said in a media statement received by MS News that Lazada had informed the union of the layoffs in advance.
Union members affected by the restructuring exercise will get a year of union membership and training grant support.
Additionally, eligible Singaporean or permanent resident (PR) workers can receive temporary financial support of up to S$6,000 over six months by participating in job search activities organised by the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).
Previous Lazada layoffs were in Jan 2024
The recent Lazada layoffs are the second in 2.5 years since January 2024, when the company suddenly laid off about 100 staff across its commercial, retail and marketing functions.
At the time, NTUC and the FDAWU expressed their disappointment over the retrenchment exercise, saying that Lazada had initiated it without notifying or consulting the FDAWU despite being unionised under it.
Lazada later apologised and reached an amicable settlement with FDAWU over the layoffs.
Earlier this month, Lazada’s e-commerce competitor Shopee also conducted layoffs, cutting 8% of its developer workforce.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
