CIMB S’pore Closing Orchard Road Branch to Focus on their Main Branch in Raffles Place; Many Staff Will be Laid Off

By
Ashley Seek
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It’s always sad to hear about workers getting laid off.

This is especially true during COVID-19, with some desperate enough to even commit crimes.

While not totally virus-related, a major bank is also going to be laying off tons of staff very soon.

CIMB Singapore Closing Orchard Road Branch; Many Staff will be Laid off during Restructuring

At least, for its Singapore branch.

It’s been reported that CIMB Singapore will lay off staff and shut its branch in Orchard Road as part of a restructuring exercise, following a review of its business.

However, as of this writing, the exact number to be laid off is unconfirmed.

Chief executive Victor Lee said in an internal memo cited by BT that this comes as the bank revises its strategy to emphasise sustainable growth, in line with the group’s vision to be a “leading focused Asean bank”.

Amongst other things, he said closing the Orchard branch would allow more focus of the main one at Raffles Place.

“These will make us more resilient, more productive and better positioned for growth going forward.”

However, the company has also had some significant layoffs in November 2020 in light of COVID-19

Namely, three of its banking unit heads, which all left on the 30th of that month.

In Light Of Digitisation

Technology evolves with time and businesses will eventually have to do the same too.

A spokesman noted that the change came from observing customers shifting to online channels along with digital transformation efforts.

CIMB has also been equipping staff with relevant skills following this progression since 2020.

The spokesman said Singapore will still be one of the main markets to the CIMB Group, with CIMB Singapore being further positioned as an Asean banking hub for the group.

CIMB Singapore was recorded to have lost around S$309 million in the first half of 2020 as well.

Its main headquarters remain in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Other Major Layoffs

Unfortunately, CIMB isn’t the only company experiencing such a situation.

Earlier in March, Gas company ExxonMobil was also reported to be cutting 300 jobs from its workforce in Singapore by the end of 2021.

This counts for 7% of its workers.

They said that this was due to changes in the market conditions caused by COVID-19, accelerating ongoing reorganisation.

Currently, they have over 4,000 employees in Singapore, where it also holds the largest refinery.

They’ve also invested around S$25 billion in fixed asset investments here, making them one of the largest foreign investors.

According to CNA, they suffered a US$22.4 billion (roughly S$29.7 billion) loss on a steep decline in oil prices due to COVID-19.

Featured Image: Google Maps

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Ashley Seek
[email protected]