M1 lays off 50 workers amid digitalisation push

TELCO M1 has laid off 50 employees as it moves forward with digitalisation efforts, it told The Business Times on Thursday.

As part of its digital transformation plan, M1 has restructured to create new roles while other existing roles were outsourced, redesigned or made redundant.

"We are streamlining processes, implementing new ways of working and building new digital capabilities to further improve our productivity and efficiency, and allow us to be more agile to respond to customers' rapidly-changing requirements, as well as capture new opportunities for growth in the digital marketplace," M1 said.

The 50 employees work in the information systems department, which has seen certain services outsourced to IT and consulting company Infosys, according to a report in The Straits Times.

The employees were informed in February 2020, and half were offered and had accepted roles with the outsourced vendor to provide continued support for M1's systems, the telco said.

The remaining employees will leave the company over the next few months, and represent about 1.6 per cent of M1's headcount.

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"M1 and SISEU (Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union) will ensure fair treatment and compensation package for all affected employees, and have also extended our fullest support to them in this transition," said M1.

The support includes outplacement support and training programmes through collaboration with NTUC's e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), Workforce Singapore and Infocomm Media Development Authority.

M1 is owned by Konnectivity, a joint-venture company between Keppel Corporation and Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Business Times.