[Update at 9.40pm: A Grab spokesperson clarified that Grab is committed to try to find roles for over 500+ full time Uber employees across Southeast Asia. Additionally, they will find roles for Uber's contract staff. The article has been updated with Grab's statement.]

After news of Uber's sale of its Southeast Asian assets to Grab officially broke on Monday morning, Uber published emails from its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to its staff on its website:

One detail we gained from his emails (titled "A New Future for Uber and Grab in Southeast Asia") was the revelation that 500 employees in the region would be "transition(ed)" to Grab.

Accounts of same-day office departures from Uber employees

Uber has offices in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, but its main regional headquarters, referred to as a "Major International Office" is undoubtedly located here in Singapore.

And so when news of this deal became official, hundreds of staff at the Uber office came to work for a decidedly rude shock.

Here's a tweet from one Uber employee:

The Twitter user who put up the tweet subsequently told Mothership that he is a telesales specialist on contract with Uber.

His story: after working for Uber for a year, he was called into a meeting on Monday morning at 10, and told he had until 12:30pm to pack up and leave.

He said he was told he would only be paid up till Monday, and knew pretty much nothing beyond that:

"So far we've felt lost, and there's not much help... no news of (any) severance package or whatsoever; we were told we were free to look for other jobs."

[related_story]

But were they actually fired/retrenched/let go?

Another Uber employee, who did not want to be identified, told Mothership that people at the office were asked to pack up and leave at 10am, and were told to clear out of the building by 4pm Monday.

The employee also told Mothership that they were all logged out of their work systems by 10:30am.

However, contrary to a Facebook post claiming that they were all fired (which you can see a screenshot of above), the employee clarified to Mothership that they — perhaps at least the full-timers — had all been placed on gardening leave, i.e. they would still receive their salaries pending contact from Grab, which is slated to offer them job placements at an unspecified time.

Grab: All 500 Uber SEA employees will be offered jobs at Grab

In response to Mothership's queries, a Grab spokesperson said that all 500+ Uber employees in the Southeast Asian (Singapore included of course) region will be transiting to Grab as part of the deal. Grab will also find roles for all Uber contract staff.

Below is Grab statement in full:

Here’s a totally unrelated but equally interesting story:

Are you a media freelancer? Were you promised better “exposure” instead of cash payment for your work?