SINGAPORE: The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has voiced deep disappointment in response to e-commerce giant Lazada’s decision to initiate layoffs in Singapore. The Southeast Asian platform, owned by China’s Alibaba Group, began implementing job cuts earlier this week, affecting employees across various departments, including commercial and marketing.
Lazada’s Singapore branch executed the retrenchment of nearly 100 workers on Wednesday and Thursday (3-4 Jan), marking the second round of layoffs following a smaller-scale exercise in the previous year.
NTUC expressed concern over the lack of prior notification to the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU), a subsidiary of NTUC, to which Lazada is affiliated.
In an official statement, NTUC conveyed its disappointment over Lazada’s actions, emphasizing that the company’s decision to lay off employees without informing FDAWU contradicts the principles of fair retrenchment outlined in the Fair Retrenchment Framework Guidelines set by NTUC.
NTUC disclosed that Lazada had joined FDAWU, but the absence of consultation prior to the layoffs raised significant concerns.
The FDAWU took a proactive stance by sending a letter to Lazada, labeling the company’s behavior as unacceptable and alerting the Ministry of Manpower about the incident. NTUC, standing in solidarity with FDAWU and the affected employees, stressed the necessity for companies to collaborate with unions to ensure a fair and just retrenchment process.
“We, too, are extremely disappointed in this move by Lazada. NTUC would like to reiterate that it is critical for companies to work with their union to ensure that a fair and equitable process was carried out to safeguard the interests of all workers, especially our Singaporean core,” NTUC said in a statement.
While acknowledging that layoffs might be inevitable in certain situations, NTUC urged companies to view it as a last resort. The organization urged affected employees to seek assistance from FDAWU and called on employers to adopt fair and responsible retrenchment practices.
“Companies must exhaust all other options before making the call to retrench employees. It also appeals to companies to be considerate about the timing of such exercises and to avoid doing such exercises during festive periods, as far as possible,” NTUC said.
The organization also reminded companies to adhere to the guiding principles outlined in NTUC’s Fair Retrenchment Framework and the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment, emphasizing the importance of openness, transparency, and consultation during the retrenchment process.