A document to affected staff notes that reports to MOM and Tafep would revoke their entitlement to severance benefits
[SINGAPORE] Online travel agency Agoda has cut staff across its operations, including about 50 in Singapore.
Sources told The Business Times that the Singapore-headquartered company held a closed-door virtual town hall on the retrenchment on Aug 4 with its customer experience group (CEG) employees in Singapore, Shanghai and Budapest.
The management told these employees that all CEG roles in the three locations would be eliminated. The official reasons provided were “cost” issues and “recruitment challenges”.
Regional managers and employees in customer service were affected.
In response to queries from BT, an Agoda spokesperson confirmed the group has “phased out customer support roles in our offices in Budapest, Shanghai and Singapore”, in line with its continuous drive to enhance operational efficiency.
A section of the severance document seen by BT stated that any reports of the matter to government agencies, statutory bodies and trade unions such as the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) or the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) would result in individuals “ceasing to be entitled to the severance” benefits. On its part, Agoda said it would seek an income tax waiver on the layoff compensation.
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But the Agoda spokesperson said the company “categorically refutes the allegation that any warnings were issued”.
It said affected employees were “given every support throughout the transition process…” and that “during this time, employees were free to seek alternative legal options or engage with local authorities if they so wished”.
Agoda remains committed to retaining a strong local presence in Singapore and continues to follow relevant local laws, it added.
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The severance document also stated that those affected by this layoff who attempt to make a claim against Agoda will indemnify costs to the company as a consequence of such action. This would include, but would not be limited to, legal costs, compensation and damages orders.
The company said it is not able to comment further on individual settlement agreements to respect employee privacy.
A source told BT that Agoda’s staff in Singapore had previously been informed that the CEG department “existed mainly to satisfy the local workforce quota”, so that the company would be able to hire foreign talent for IT and engineering roles.
This was in response to an employee’s question asked at a prior meeting about the limited progression in CEG relative to other customer-handling sites. Staff keen to get ahead were told to consider relocating to places such as Bangkok, said the source.
He believed tweaks in the S Pass quotas may have also contributed to the decision to scale down operations in Singapore.
New S Pass applications submitted to MOM from Sep 1, 2025, are subjected to the new qualifying salary of S$3,300.
As for renewals, S Pass holders whose passes are expiring from Sep 1, 2025, are subjected to the old qualifying salary of S$3,150. Those with passes expiring from Sep 1, 2026, will be subjected to the new qualifying salary of S$3,300, says MOM’s website.
About a year ago, Agoda set up new CEG sites in Gurgaon (India), Foshan (China) and Cairo (Egypt), which have lower operating costs than Singapore.
BT has also reached out to MOM and Tafep for comments.
