http://www.todayonline.com/Business/EDC120321-0000067/SingTel-axes-500-but-they-have-new-jobs
SingTel axes 500 but they have new jobs
by Thomas Cho 04:45 AM Mar 21, 2012
SINGAPORE - SingTel is laying off about 500 workers in Singapore but they have been offered employment under existing terms at one of its contractors, Sino Huawei Technologies. They will also receive retrenchment benefits.
Most of the affected staff are from its multipoint distribution services department. MediaCorp understands that employees with at least 25 months of service will receive a payout equivalent to three-and-a-half months' salary.
SingTel Networks Group executive vice-president Tay Soo Meng said yesterday that the offer for retrenched staff to work at Sino Huawei came after the company was appointed to operate SingTel's copper-based voice and data network infrastructure. That deal, taking effect from June 1, is for an initial period of five years.
Mr Tay said there would be no change to the "existing roles, responsibilities, remuneration and benefits" of the workers. "A key reason for the selection of Huawei is that they offer excellent career opportunities, including travel and work in other key markets around the region," he said, adding that there would be no disruption to consumer or business services during this period.
Outside Suntec City's Rock auditorium, where SingTel briefed its staff yesterday, security personnel prevented employees from speaking to the media but most of those MediaCorp managed to talk to later said they were satisfied or pleased with the compensation and job offer.
SingTel, whose earnings have suffered in recent quarters from increasing costs and a slump at its Indian business, Bharti Airtel, told MediaCorp that the outsourcing move was in line with the restructuring efforts to transform the company from a carriage-based telco to a multimedia company.
Mr Tay said it "will enable SingTel to improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of its copper-based network, without compromising service quality for its customers ... The initiative will allow SingTel to focus on core competencies such as product development, marketing and customer engagement. It will also allow SingTel to channel more efforts into developing innovative services that maximise the potential of the Next Generation National Broadband Network and existing fixed and mobile networks."
Outside Singapore, SingTel is also restructuring Down Under. Its Australian unit, Optus, yesterday said it would likely cut jobs in a review of local operations with the aim of creating a stronger organisation with a clearer focus on customers.
Optus said in a statement that it was not in a position to say how many jobs would be lost. It added that suggestions in the local media that 700 positions would be removed were "pure speculation".
Mr Sachin Gupta, Nomura's head of telco research Asia ex-Japan, said: "Cost-cutting is a natural transition for a lot of telcos because margins come under pressure and these are some of the costs that telcos are watching closely. And, if you recall, what SingTel has done over the past three weeks, they have actually restructured their business along the consumer line, the digital line and the ICT."
SingTel axes 500 but they have new jobs
by Thomas Cho 04:45 AM Mar 21, 2012
SINGAPORE - SingTel is laying off about 500 workers in Singapore but they have been offered employment under existing terms at one of its contractors, Sino Huawei Technologies. They will also receive retrenchment benefits.
Most of the affected staff are from its multipoint distribution services department. MediaCorp understands that employees with at least 25 months of service will receive a payout equivalent to three-and-a-half months' salary.
SingTel Networks Group executive vice-president Tay Soo Meng said yesterday that the offer for retrenched staff to work at Sino Huawei came after the company was appointed to operate SingTel's copper-based voice and data network infrastructure. That deal, taking effect from June 1, is for an initial period of five years.
Mr Tay said there would be no change to the "existing roles, responsibilities, remuneration and benefits" of the workers. "A key reason for the selection of Huawei is that they offer excellent career opportunities, including travel and work in other key markets around the region," he said, adding that there would be no disruption to consumer or business services during this period.
Outside Suntec City's Rock auditorium, where SingTel briefed its staff yesterday, security personnel prevented employees from speaking to the media but most of those MediaCorp managed to talk to later said they were satisfied or pleased with the compensation and job offer.
SingTel, whose earnings have suffered in recent quarters from increasing costs and a slump at its Indian business, Bharti Airtel, told MediaCorp that the outsourcing move was in line with the restructuring efforts to transform the company from a carriage-based telco to a multimedia company.
Mr Tay said it "will enable SingTel to improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of its copper-based network, without compromising service quality for its customers ... The initiative will allow SingTel to focus on core competencies such as product development, marketing and customer engagement. It will also allow SingTel to channel more efforts into developing innovative services that maximise the potential of the Next Generation National Broadband Network and existing fixed and mobile networks."
Outside Singapore, SingTel is also restructuring Down Under. Its Australian unit, Optus, yesterday said it would likely cut jobs in a review of local operations with the aim of creating a stronger organisation with a clearer focus on customers.
Optus said in a statement that it was not in a position to say how many jobs would be lost. It added that suggestions in the local media that 700 positions would be removed were "pure speculation".
Mr Sachin Gupta, Nomura's head of telco research Asia ex-Japan, said: "Cost-cutting is a natural transition for a lot of telcos because margins come under pressure and these are some of the costs that telcos are watching closely. And, if you recall, what SingTel has done over the past three weeks, they have actually restructured their business along the consumer line, the digital line and the ICT."
