No other alternative: SingPost is laying off 45 employees after “exhausting options”

Singapore Post (SingPost) will be undergoing a “restructuring” exercise in the coming months, where approximately 45 employees will be laid off.

In response to Vulcan Post’s enquiries, SingPost confirmed the decision, stating that the move aims to “right-size” the company and “devolve corporate functions to its business units.”

Affected employees were primarily from its corporate support and international business units.

According to a SingPost spokesperson, the initiative will “eliminate duplicate functions” and improve the agility and efficiency of the company, with the aim of strengthening the company’s operating capability.

This decision has not been taken lightly. For affected roles, the company has exhausted options to find alternative positions within SingPost.

This restructuring is the result of prolonged marco-economic challenges facing the business including intense competition. 

We wish to emphasise that this initiative is not correlated with any previous incidents or whistleblowing reports.

A spokesperson from SingPost responding to Vulcan Post’s media enquiries

SingPost has also expressed its commitment to care for the employees involved. “All affected employees will have access to outplacement and counselling services during this period.”

The company is unionised under the Union of Telecoms Employees of Singapore (UTES).

Responding to Vulcan Post, UTES general secretary Thuvinder Singh shared that SingPost has given the union prior notice of the restructuring exercise that resulted in jobs being displaced.

“The company has assured the union that it has explored all alternative options, including redeployment to other suitable positions,” added Singh.

UTES has also worked with the company to provide fair compensation packages in accordance with the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment, as well as support for affected union members as they transition to their next jobs.

UTES and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) will also offer job matching and career advisory resources.

What’s going on with SingPost?

SingPost also made headlines last December when three senior executives from the company were fired following a probe into a whistleblower’s report, which found “grossly negligent” behaviour in their handling of internal investigations.

The whistleblowing report detailed issues within the group’s non-regulated international e-commerce logistics parcel business.

It alleged that manual entries of certain delivery status codes by the international business unit were done to avoid the payment of certain contractual penalties to a customer.

“There was no basis for doing so and it was done without supporting documents,” CNA said in their report.

This resulted in an investigation, and eventually, three unnamed managers were also sacked with a police report made against them.

SingPost has shared that it will announce the appointment of its group CEO “in due course.”

Currently, Issac Mah, who was previously the CFO of SingPost’s Australian business arm, has stepped up as the Group CFO since January, and Gan Heng, the former head of the company’s South District International Business Unit, has been appointed the group CEO of SingPost’s International Business unit.

Featured Image Credit: SingPost via Facebook

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