Homegrown ecommerce platform Qoo10 has reportedly laid off more than 80 per cent of its Singapore-based workforce over the past two weeks.
A total of 90 out of 110 staff members in Singapore have been impacted by the layoffs, but they were not offered any benefits due to a lack of funds, revealed former employees in an interview with Mediacorp yesterday (August 28).
“Now, the only ones left are senior management,” an employee stated, sharing that the remaining few staff members are solely focused on maintaining the platform’s day-to-day operations.
“The two-storey office is full of empty desks”
The layoffs came on the heels of troubling reports that Qoo10’s South Korean operations had defaulted on payments to local merchants and consumers late last month.
Employees in Singapore began receiving notices of potential impacts on the local headquarters shortly after the news broke, and the first round of layoffs occurred on 13 August, affecting workers across nearly all departments, except for the Human Resources team.
The retrenched staff reportedly comprised Singapore citizens, with only three foreigners among those affected. Insiders revealed that Qoo10 expressed regret in letters sent to the employees—the company apologised for the layoffs and emphasised that it was not its intention to reduce the workforce.
One former employee speculates that the company might be preparing to either sell of its assets, or shut down its operations completely. However, the platform continues to operate as of writing.
“The two-storey office is full of empty desks,” said the employee. “If there are really any people, it should be less than ten.”
According to Mediacorp, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has confirmed that it is closely monitoring the situation at Qoo10. Although Qoo10 is not part of any of its unions, the labour movement has assured that it will provide support to affected employees if necessary.
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