News about retrenchment and being let go from jobs is always heartbreaking to read.
Unfortunately, such news during COVID-19 isn’t so rare.
Who could forget last year when the Singapore Airlines Group laid off around 2,400 staff members? Even those who stayed on had to take massive pay cuts.
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Today, there’s another well-known company that will reportedly cut many jobs by the end of this year.
ExxonMobil to Cut 300 Jobs in S’pore by End of 2021 Due to “Unprecedented Market Conditions”
And while not in the thousands, the numbers are still huge.
Gas company ExxonMobil will reportedly be cutting 300 jobs from its workforce in Singapore by the end of 2021.
Which also counts for 7% of the 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.
And while this is indeed sad news, it’s not as if this was not foreshadowed.
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Remember how we mentioned their “ongoing reorganisation”?
In October 2020, ExxonMobil announced that by 2022 they would reduce their global workforce by 14,000 employees, roughly 15%.
Reduction in manpower would also happen through attrition.
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.
They were also criticised by environmentalists, saying they could do more to advance renewable energy and address climate change.
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Difficult Decision
No company would want to let go of so many workers without a good reason.
Unfortunately, this was a necessary step for them, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, Ms Geraldine Chin, said.
She added that it would improve ExxonMobil’s competitiveness and strengthen the foundations for future success.
And the workers who were let go won’t be left alone either.
The company is helping with transitioning to help them through this period.
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Singapore will still be an important location for the company, with a world-scale manufacturing complex and a talented workforce.
They would also do their best to providing quality and essential products managing operations safely and responsibly while reducing the risks of climate change.
Local Business Affected By COVID-19
If anything, at least the company isn’t going to shut down.
The same cannot be said, however, for businesses like local e-commerce platform Airfrov.
With global travel affected badly by the coronavirus, the platform announced two days ago that they had no choice but to shut down, with its app and website going down on 1 April 2021. You can read more about it here.
Featured Image: Trong Nguyen / Shutterstock.com
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