Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

CIMB Singapore retrenches employees in latest restructuring exercise at bank

SINGAPORE — CIMB Singapore is laying off employees following a review of its business here.

  • CIMB is retrenching workers as part of a restructuring exercise
  • It did not disclose the number of employees it is letting go and in which departments they work
  • Two unions said that they are working closely with the bank’s management to negotiate a fair compensation package for those affected

 

SINGAPORE — CIMB Singapore is laying off employees following a review of its business here.

The bank, which had about 1,200 staff members in its Singapore office before the cuts, said that it has recalibrated its strategy with an emphasis on sustainable growth. 

It did not disclose the number of employees affected and in which departments they work when queried by TODAY.

In a joint statement to the media on Thursday (March 25), the Banking and Financial Services Union (BFSU) and the Singapore Bank Employees’ Union (SBEU) said that the management of CIMB Singapore had given notice to them on its retrenchment exercise.

Since then, the two unions have worked closely with the management to negotiate a fair compensation package for the affected employees.

The statement, issued by Mr Patrick Tay, executive secretary of BSFU, and Mr Max Lim, president of SBEU, said that union leaders will provide support, advice and assistance to affected employees in training them to boost their employability, and in career coaching and job placement.

This process involves representatives from the Employment and Employability Institute and the Institute of Banking and Finance as well.

“The unions’ key priority is to assist our members; help them find jobs; and ensure that they are treated fairly and with dignity during the exercise,” both men said.

A CIMB spokesman told TODAY that the bank has conducted a detailed analysis of its business here.

"Given our digital transformation efforts and our customers' shift towards online channels, we have carefully reviewed our resources. This will enable us to weather the challenging and fast-evolving environment to ultimately deliver value to all our stakeholders.”

The spokesperson said that since last year, the bank has been intensifying efforts to upskill its workers, particularly in the digital, data and design areas.

The bank is "proactively working with internal and external support groups to assist our affected staff during this transition".

Singapore remains a core and important market to the group, which will continue to invest in key growth areas, the spokesperson added.

"With the group's recalibrated strategy, CIMB Singapore will be further positioned as an Asean banking hub for the group, with a focus on wealth management, SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) banking, regional corporates and treasury and markets."

The news of the retrenchment was first reported by The Business Times on Thursday, which quoted an internal memo sent on Tuesday morning by Mr Victor Lee, chief executive officer of CIMB Singapore.

According to the report, the memo stated that the bank would also close its branch on Orchard Road as part of the restructuring exercise to fully focus on its main branch in Raffles Place.

Mr Lee said that the bank’s efforts to upskill workers have allowed it to redeploy more than 50 of them in new growth areas, but "regrettably, there will be some in our workforce who will be affected by the restructuring," the report added.

Last November, CIMB Singapore laid off three of its banking unit heads — in consumer banking, commercial banking and corporate banking — in a bid to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Related topics

CIMB bank retrenchment Jobs union

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.