How Singapore tech layoffs are impacting Indians
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced that it was laying off about 11,000 employees, or 13 per cent of its global workforce. It's the first mass redundancy exercise for the 18-year-old social media behemoth.
Its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore was not spared. Media reports speculated that out of the estimated 1,000 employees here, perhaps up to 100, have been affected, majority of whom are tech workers including software engineers.
Based on 2021 Singapore Ministry of Manpower figures, about a quarter of the 177,100 employment pass holders or around 45,000, are from India. Employment pass holders are the highest qualified foreign professionals that are allowed to work in the country and must earn at least SGD 5,000 (USD 3,700) per month. No doubt many of these are impacted by not only Meta's layoffs but also other redundancies happening in the tech sector.
Technology companies around the world and in Singapore, a major tech hub where many of the tech giants host their regional headquarters, are freezing hiring or downsizing in the face of sluggish consumer spending, higher interest rates and inflation.
Singapore-based gaming and ecommerce powerhouse Sea Limited, the parent company of Garena, (publisher of games like League of Legends and Free Fire), and Shopee, made two rounds of cuts in June and September and rescinded job offers. Sea had 67,300 employees as at the end of 2021, double its headcount the year before, according to the company's most recent annual report.
Following a net loss of USD931 million in the second quarter of this year, and amidst mounting cost of borrowing and a slowing global economy, the company scaled back its overseas footprint and periphery businesses with the aim to boost
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