Grab to lay off over 350 workers across SE Asia

MORE than 350 employees of ride-hailing app Grab in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, would be laid off due to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, according to the Singaporebased firm’s top official.

In a statement on Tuesday, Grab co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Tan announced that 5 percent, or 360, of its employees in eight countries in the region would be retrenched.

He said the pandemic had affected his company’s operations in the region, just like other industries hit by the global health crisis.

“Since February, we have seen the stark impact of Covid-19 on businesses globally, ours included. At the same time, it has become clear that the pandemic [would] likely result in a prolonged recession and we have to prepare for what may be a long recovery period,” Tan said.

“Over the past few months, we reviewed all costs, cut back on discretionary spending and implemented pay cuts for senior management,” he added.

“In spite of all this, we recognize that we still have to become leaner as an organization in order to tackle the challenges of the postpandemic economy.”

Meanwhile, Grab Philippines said its operations were also affected by the retrenchment, but refused to disclose how many would be laid off.

It emphasized, however, that no driver-partners were affected by this move, given the increase in demand for its food delivery arm GrabFood during the community quarantine.

Tan also said there would be “noncore projects, consolidating functions for greater efficiency and right-sizing teams,” adding that Grab had doubled down on its delivery verticals to meet customer demand.

The announced layoff would be the last for this year, according to him.

He also urged those to be affected to understand and not take the news wrongly.

“Please know that we did not come to this decision lightly. We tried everything possible to avoid this but had to accept that the difficult cuts we are making today are required, because millions depend on us for a living in this new normal,” Tan said.