From laid off to Head of IT: how this PMET found help where he least expected

When Thomas started delivering food in 2023, it was simply a way to earn a little extra money on the side.

Riding his motorcycle between orders, he saw it as a practical way to supplement his income — nothing more.

He never expected his decision to be essential to his recovery from a career low point.

At the time, he was still working full-time in tech, with two decades of experience helping F&B businesses implement systems, from point-of-sale (POS) solutions to reservations software.

He had built a stable career across both “atas” restaurants and fast food chains.

But things began to shift.

Following an acquisition, uncertainty crept into his workplace.

By the end of 2024, that uncertainty became a reality — his role was made redundant.

What had once been a side hustle quickly became his main source of income.

Then began the search

Over the course of 2025, Thomas sent out nearly 200 applications, coming close on a number of occasions to landing his next job.

He was approached at several moments by recruiters, with one approach even leading to a six-month interview process that heartbreakingly came to nothing in the end.

A job search is almost always a stressful, nerve-wracking, sometimes even demoralising experience.

Like many in similar situations, the experience took a toll. Confidence wavered. The process became draining. Thomas didn’t realise it at the time, but he needed help.

And even more unexpectedly: he already had it.

Enter GrabAcademy

Thomas first discovered GrabAcademy through the Grab Driver app.

When it was launched in 2020, GrabAcademy had a practical purpose: to equip Grab drivers and delivery-partners with essential skills when first signing up to work with Grab, from working with customers to handling food safely and managing incidents on the road.

It would eventually go on to offer more: as the needs and aspirations of partners evolved, so did GrabAcademy, which now supports partners in building skills for both work and life beyond the platform.

When I spoke to Grab, they were refreshingly candid about the fact that many of its driver and delivery-partners view their platform as a transitional job, a job between jobs.

Recognising this, GrabAcademy has since expanded its offerings to help partners pursue their aspirations by building new capabilities, refreshing existing ones, and exploring new career opportunities.

Today, its programmes range from short, practical courses and licensing support to longer-term tertiary certifications, including diploma and degree pathways in fields such as hospitality and computer science, as well as emerging areas like artificial intelligence.

Not that Thomas ended up using them.

An Unexpected Connection

With 20 years of experience behind him, Thomas wasn’t lacking in skills; what he really was looking for was the right fit.

What he didn’t realise was that the support he needed had already begun, in a small, almost forgettable moment.

In 2023, while attending some of the onboarding courses for a GrabFood delivery rider, he would meet a GrabAcademy trainer named Yao Chung, also known as YC.

They exchanged contact details and kept in touch, but at first Thomas thought little of it.

YC actually had a remarkably similar experience to what Thomas would experience, having also lost his job and become a GrabFood delivery-partner at a similar life stage.

When Thomas eventually reached out, that shared experience became the foundation of something more — guidance, perspective, and support at a time he needed it most.

Information, advice, and solace

Aside from training, YC is also a career facilitator with GrabAcademy, where he also spent time mentoring drivers and delivery-partners.

As Thomas’ job search dragged on and his confidence began to dip, he decided to reach out.

YC, having gone through a similar mid-career setback himself, understood what he was facing.

What started as a simple check-in became something more. YC would regularly reach out — sometimes just a message, other times longer conversations — offering advice, perspective, and a steady source of encouragement as Thomas navigated his search.

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YC and GrabAcademy would become not just an invaluable source of information, advice, but also solace to Thomas.

Throughout GrabAcademy’s career facilitation programme, YC helped Thomas sharpen his CV, guiding him to make it clearer, more concise, and more appealing to employers.

He also provided interview coaching, not just tips and pointers, but even roleplaying and going through scenarios.

Perhaps the most important thing that YC provided was encouragement.

Thomas radiated appreciation as he spoke about how YC had “rebuilt” his confidence after a bruising year.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

It all culminated in a second-round interview with fast food restaurant Four Fingers.

YC provided practical advice, helping him navigate the different working structure he was facing, which would see him reporting directly to the company’s CEO, rather than a head of finance as he did in his previous roles.

This required a different approach to questions, and YC was able to help him through that as well.

Thomas was able to convince his new boss he was the right person for the job after the second interview round, and as I met him on a sunny afternoon in April, he was relaxed and happy as the Head of IT at Four Fingers.

He could not speak highly enough of YC, noting that the weekly contact, even if it was just a check-in text, the multiple chats that YC had made time for, even meeting one-on-one five or six times in a year, were invaluable.

Unique, but not special

I was intrigued whether Thomas was a special case.

YC and the Grab team demurred; as far as their own outreach was concerned, no.

They tried to make time for as many Grab partners as they could, and the GrabAcademy team is also looking at further expanding the pool of career facilitators to better support these partners.

There was an acknowledgement that every person they helped had different needs, and the GrabAcademy team did their best to cater to those needs.

The courses were for those whose needs could be addressed with courses and upskilling.

Thomas needed more one-on-one coaching, and an effort was made there for that.

Our Grab contact confirmed that over 41,000 driver and delivery-partners have completed upskilling courses, and over 11,000 partners have received training and career advice via GrabAcademy.

Grab also regularly works with recruitment firms and sends out newsletters informing delivery partners about open positions in other companies.

In some cases, driver and delivery-partners sometimes didn’t have the spare capacity or time to invest in upskilling.

The fundamental purpose of GrabAcademy is to therefore make it easier for its partners to find help and relevant courses, to upskill, and pursue their dream jobs.

This sponsored article by GrabAcademy is a reminder that a little bit of confidence goes a long way