SPH Media lays off 10% of tech employees, says it can't sustain 'aggressive' tech ramp-up anymore

SPH Media has laid off 34 employees from its technology division amid a restructuring exercise.

The layoff has affected about 10 per cent of its tech employees, and comes on the back of an "urgent and aggressive" tech ramp-up previously.

Chief operating officer Loh Yun Yiing and chief technology officer Kaythaya Maw told staff in an email broadcast on Nov. 4 that it was a "difficult decision that [they] have had to make", The Straits Times (ST) reported.

SPH Media publishes two of the Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) most widely-circulated broadsheets: ST and Lianhe Zaobao.

Cutting costs

In 2021, SPH Media was formed.

This was in the wake of the restructuring and delisting of SPH, and the subsequent S$900 million funding injection by the Ministry of Communications and Information (now the Ministry of Digital Development and Information).

Since then, it has embarked on an "urgent and aggressive" ramp-up in its digital transformation, Loh said in her email according to ST.

This was to build back on earlier years of underinvestment, and to keep pace with the demands of the evolving digital media landscape.

But the ramp-up is no longer at a level that the company can afford to sustain beyond 2024, Loh said.

Expenditure on technology currently accounts for nearly one-fifth of SPH's annual costs.

“Going forward, our focus will be to steady the ship as we transit towards a more sustainable level of Tech operations and expenditure,” she added.

No further plans

Loh said that SPH Media currently has no plans for "further exercises of this nature".

However, "regular review and resource optimisation" will continue to be necessary as the company adapts to changing business needs.

Providing context for the layoffs, Loh said that the company initially sought to tighten non-payroll expenses.

But adjustments to manpower "could not be avoided", ST wrote.

She added that job redundancies were considered "only as a last resort".

Affected employees will also be provided with severance packages, career coaching, job placement assistance, and counselling support.

Top image from SPH