This year has been exceptionally rocky for big tech firms and high-flying startups alike.
These companies have gone from raking in huge profits during the pandemic to making big losses — with seven of the biggest tech companies losing at least US$3 trillion combined in market capitalisation over the past year as of October.
During the pandemic, these companies have flourished due to the shift towards digitalisation, causing them to hire and expand in an unsustainable way.
Now that the dust has settled and the way of life has somewhat returned to pre-pandemic ways, these companies are trying to cut their losses by implementing mass layoffs and hiring freezes. This year has seen 850 tech companies laying off 137,159 employees so far.
Whether you’re affected by the recent tech layoffs or looking for a job change for the new year, here’s a look at some of the tech companies in Singapore that are currently hiring:
1. Wise
Previously known as TransferWise, Wise operates a cross-border payments network for consumers and businesses.
In October, the global payments company announced that it would be bolstering its ambitions in Asia, and planned to double its headcount in Singapore to hit over 400 employees by the end of the year.
Through this expansion, Wise aims to have its Singapore office account for 10 per cent of its global workforce, which has grown to over 4,000 employees across 17 countries.
The company also operates in Australia, the US, UK, Switzerland, the European Economic Area, Japan, and Malaysia.
Currently, the company has over 295 vacant roles worldwide according to its career site, and about 30 of these are based in Singapore. The roles in Singapore comprise developer roles, finance roles and HR roles, among others
2. Binance
The recent buzz around the FTX crash as well as crypto layoffs from the likes of Crypto.com and Coinbase show that these crypto companies are badly impacted by the ongoing ‘crypto winter’.
Despite the challenging landscape, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) remains bullish on the crypto market, as he claims that the industry will bounce back and recover quickly. Hence, the company has been hiring aggressively for the past six months.
The CEO tweeted on Monday that the company will be increasing its headcount of over 7,400 to 8,000 by the end of this year.
The CEO also highlighted his previous tweet earlier in June, which stated that the company looked to increase its headcount by 2,000. The tweet in June came shortly after Coinbase announced that it would be laying off 18 per cent of its workforce in the same month.
Binance currently has 664 job openings listed on its career page, and 73 of these openings are based in Singapore. These include roles in divisions comprising business development, data and research, engineering, finance, and in operations, among others.
3. TikTok and ByteDance
With over 1.5 billion monthly active users in the third quarter of 2022, TikTok has become an integral part of popular culture. In fact, the app is now the go-to search engine for Gen Zs, replacing the ubiquitous Google.
Amidst high-profile tech layoffs, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reaffirmed that the company is doing well and will still be recruiting despite the economic downturn during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.
“We have always been more cautious in terms of recruitment,” he said at the conference. “At this stage of our growth, I think that our pace, our cadence, of hiring is just right for us.”
TikTok’s career page lists a whopping 4340 vacant roles globally, and 887 of these are based in Singapore. Meanwhile, its parent firm ByteDance is also aggressively hiring, with over 377 vacant roles based in Singapore.
4. Lazada
While major e-commerce platforms such as Shopee are massively impacted by the economic downturn, Lazada has no plans for layoffs and is still actively hiring in all of its markets, said CEO James Dong.
According to its career page, Lazada has several job openings in Singapore, and they mostly span across its commercial, data and intelligence, as well as its technology divisions.
Earlier in April, the Southeast Asian online marketplace, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, opened its 11-storey headquarters in Singapore.
Its headquarters can house teams from Singapore and the region, and employees from various departments – from developers to marketing – are all under one roof. Equipped with wellness and recreation zones, Lazada’s headquarters aims to provide a conducive workspace for all its employees.
5. Grab
In September, Grab’s chief operating officer Alex Hungate told Reuters that Grab was “very careful and judicious about any hiring” as it had been worried about a possible recession earlier this year.
As a result, Grab did not have to resort to “desperate” measures such as implementing a hiring freeze or mass layoffs.
Grab is currently selectively hiring, while reining in its financial service ambitions. Its career page lists 480 available positions, with almost a quarter of these positions based in Singapore.
The company bumped up its 2022 revenue forecast a week ago as it reported a strong third quarter performance, “reflecting its accelerated path to profitability“.
Grab’s revenue increased by 143 per cent year-over-year (YoY), and its loss for the quarter also narrowed to S$342 million, a 65 per cent improvement YoY.
In addition, its food and grocery delivery business also broke even three quarters ahead of the company’s expectations.
6. Circles. Life
Singaporean digital telco firm Circles Global has been shaking up the telco industry since its launch back in 2016, taking on major players such as Singtel, M1 and StarHub.
As part of its ambition to become the first trillion-dollar global Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, the company launched its Circles-X Research & Development Centre in Singapore earlier in February which brings together three elements that Circles regards as key for its future plans: cutting-edge made-in Singapore tech, local talents, and market experience from Circles’ operations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Circles-X R&D Centre housed 265 staff when it first launched, and was expected to create 120 jobs in Singapore in the ICT field, specifically in software engineering, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), and more.
According to the company’s job board, there are currently 67 open job positions, and 24 of these are in its ICT division.
Besides the launch of its R&D Centre, Circles.Life was also reportedly in early talks to merge with US-listed Bridgetown Holdings, backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li back in July.
7. Doctor Anywhere
Homegrown telehealth provider Doctor Anywhere, which first started out as a non-profit side project in 2016, connects its users to an extensive panel of general practitioners, specialists and allied healthcare providers within its app.
Through the app, users can consult a licensed local doctor anytime, anywhere, and get medication delivered to their doorstep within hour.
Earlier in January, the company unveiled its new office space which occupies the entire penthouse unit on the 40th storey of mTower and spans almost 15,000 sq ft.
Alongside the launch of Doctor Anywhere’s new office, the company also announced its plans to expand its team by 50 per cent, adding over 200 roles as it continues to expand its business.
The company has listed a number of jobs based in Singapore on its job board, and some of these include roles in technology and finance.
Last November, Doctor Anywhere had also acquired Thailand’s largest telemedicine platform, Doctor Raksa, for an undisclosed sum.
Featured Image Credit: Wise/ Binance/ Grab/ Nick Barclay@The Verge