Singapore’s government agency, GovTech, has announced a reduction in staff, and has laid off around 93 employees today under the first phase of staff reductions. In total, over the next two years, around 300 employees are expected to be laid off from the agency operating under the Singapore Ministry of Digital and Information Development.
Layoffs in the government sector are rare. According to reports, the last time government sector employees were laid off was between 2006 and 2010, where 20 employees left their jobs under a special scheme.
In addition to the reduction in staff, GovTech has also taken steps to retrain existing employees for new positions. It was also emphasized that the reduction in staff is not due to AI, but due to restructuring to improve the smoothness of operations, and meet the various demands of the new digital era.
The laid-off employees will receive compensation in the form of one month’s salary for each year of service, capped at 25 years.
