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M1 retrenched 50 Singapore employees in February 2020, according to an official statement.

Retrenchment due to restructuring

An M1 spokesperson told Mothership that the retrenchment exercise was due to the organisation "streamlining processes".

The spokesperson said the "strategic digital transformation plan" will allow the company to "improve" its "productivity and efficiency" and to be more quick to respond to customers’ rapidly-changing requirements.

New roles have been created in the company, while some existing roles are outsourced or redesigned.

Other positions were made redundant, M1 said.

Half of affected workers offered and accepted roles with an outsourced vendor

M1 revealed that half of the affected workers were offered and have accepted roles with an outsourced vendor that supports M1's systems.

The other half, who represent about 1.6 percent of the company's total headcount, will be leaving over the next few months.

This suggests M1 has a workforce of about 1,560 staff currently.

M1 working closely with various organisations to ensure fair retrenchment of affected workers

M1 added it is working with Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union (SISEU) to ensure that affected employees are fairly treated and compensated.

The retrenchment was carried out according to the guidelines in the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Retrenchment by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and their relevant partners.

Affected employees have been supported with outplacement support and training programmes through collaboration with NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), Workforce Singapore and Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), as per MOM's guidelines.

In its statement, M1's spokesperson assured that the company has been working closely with labour unions and the relevant government authorities since late 2019.

Here's the full official statement from M1:

"As part of M1’s strategic digital transformation plan, we are streamlining processes, implementing new ways of working and building new digital capabilities to further improve our productivity and efficiency, and allow us to be more agile to respond to customers’ rapidly-changing requirements, as well as capture new opportunities for growth in the digital marketplace.

With the new organisation structure and ways of working, some new roles have been created, some existing roles outsourced or redesigned, and some positions have been made redundant.

About 50 employees were informed in February 2020, of which half were offered and had accepted roles with the outsourced vendor to provide continued support for M1’s systems. The remaining employees leaving the company over the next few months represent about 1.6% of M1’s headcount. M1 and SISEU will ensure fair treatment and compensation package for all affected employees, and have also extended our fullest support to them in this transition including outplacement support and training programmes through collaboration with NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), Workforce Singapore and IMDA.

Throughout, we have worked closely together with SISEU since late 2019 and notified the relevant authorities on the matter. Both the union and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) have been duly consulted, and all the departures have been carried out in accordance with Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Retrenchment."

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Top photo via Capitaland's website