Behind job losses are real people. Companies need to remember that

In Singapore, retrenchment doesn't just create financial uncertainty, it ruptures self-worth.

- Uma Thana Balasingam

(ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCKPHOTO)

In 2020, I sat in front of my laptop staring at a spreadsheet of names. The Covid-19 pandemic had collapsed budgets overnight, and like every executive in my region, I was told to cut costs — seven figures' worth. Almost a hundred people across Asia-Pacific and Japan.

Every line on that sheet was a person I knew. One name stopped me cold. Someone quietly fighting a terminal illness.

I still remember the silence after I made each Zoom call. The polite nods from those at the receiving end. The corporate phrases I used that never make it less cruel: rightsizing, streamlining, restructuring.

There’s no humane way to tell someone that the company they gave their best years to no longer has room for them.

That’s the side of retrenchments few talk about — the aftershock that hits people who thought loyalty and performance would protect them.

This year alone, Singapore has seen a string of corporate “earthquakes”.

The recent sudden closure at confectionery chain Twelve Cupcakes made headlines. Eighty workers — from bakers to finance staff - discovered they had lost their jobs only when a closure notice abruptly appeared online. No notice to the union, no consultation. The Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union, which the company joined in 2021, said the move “was not only irresponsible, but also lacked due process”. I call it inhumane.

In August, travel booking platform Agoda retrenched 50 Singapore customer experience group employees, citing cost issues and recruitment challenges. Staff were informed during a virtual town hall.