Tech Companies In Singapore & Globally Are Commencing Layoffs
- Kyle Chua
- Jun 14, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 15, 2022
Tech companies are feeling the financial pressure of the troubled global market, including rising inflation rates and shifts in consumer behaviour, with layoffs already commencing.
Tesla, for example, has cut Singapore Country Manager Mr Christopher Bousigues, with sources close to the matter noting that his role will likely be eliminated completely. Instead, as The Strait Times reports, the Hong Kong office will oversee operations in Singapore moving forward.
"When something like this happens, you wonder what is the best course of action, and whether to remain discreet or even silent about it. Ultimately, that is not how I am built. Transparency and honesty are non-negotiable to me, so sharing this news felt like the right thing to do with my network,” wrote Bousigues in a LinkedIn post announcing his departure from the company
"I profoundly believe that when a door closes, a gate somewhere else opens," he added.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently warned the company’s employees that he would cut up to 10% of jobs worldwide. The billionaire tech executive in an email cited his "super bad feeling" about the economy and overstaffing as the reasons for the cuts.
According to Reuters, Tesla had employed about 100,000 people worldwide, as of the end of 2021.
The automaker isn’t the only company cutting jobs, with many others seemingly on a correction course to continue to hit revenue targets as stock prices continue to sink. Meta and Twitter, for instance, are both implementing hiring freezes. Snap and grocery delivery app Instacart, meanwhile, are slowing down on new hires.
Sea Group's e-commerce platform Shopee is reportedly also downsizing in some of its markets like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. A lot of the cuts are coming from ShopeePay and ShopeeFood, which are said to be the two worst performing areas of the company. It will also let go part of its staff in Mexico, Argentina and Chile, along with some teams supporting operations in Spain.
Tech360’s sources have also said that certain Chinese tech company in Singapore are similarly lowering their headcounts, slowly forcing more senior staff members off their payrolls.
The prices of tech stocks have been declining over the last few months in what many experts believe could potentially be another dot-com bubble type of crash. These recent human resource-related moves could be a sign that tech companies are preparing for the worst and are minimising expenses to survive a disaster if the situation does not eventually improve.
Tesla has cut Singapore Country Manager Mr Christopher Bousigues, with sources close to the matter noting that his role will likely be eliminated completely.
CEO Elon Musk previously warned the company’s employees that he would lay off up to 10% of Tesla jobs worldwide, citing his "super bad feeling" about the economy and overstaffing as the reasons for the cuts.
The automaker isn’t the only company cutting jobs, with many others seemingly on a correction course to continue to hit revenue targets as stock prices continue to sink. Meta and Twitter, for instance, are both implementing hiring freezes.
