Singapore banks pledge no job cuts due to Covid-19

SINGAPORE banks, which are major employers here, have pledged no retrenchments as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, Piyush Gupta, CEO of Singapore's largest bank DBS, said: "While these are clearly challenging times for all, DBS recognises the key role that we play in support of employees, customers, shareholders and the community. Our capital and liquidity positions are strong.

"Given the resilience of our franchise, we do not envisage having to undertake any retrenchment exercise because of the Covid-19 situation."

Likewise, an OCBC staff memo on March 24 sent from the bank's CEO Samuel Tsien - as seen by The Business Times - said the bank does not plan to have a retrenchment exercise arising from this virus outbreak.

"Each of you is not just an employee of OCBC. Each of you has a family that we consider them as part of our extended family," Mr Tsien wrote to staff.

UOB's chief Wee Ee Cheong also told BT that the bank will retain jobs in these times. The bank has further provided an extra day of leave for staff to be taken over the next six weeks, and has implemented staggered and shortened work hours.

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"For our people, we are committed to seeing them through to better times. While we have adjusted our hiring plans for the year, we do not plan to conduct retrenchment exercises at this point in time as a result of Covid-19," said Mr Wee, who is also deputy chairman of the bank.

Mr Wee said the bank is focused on keeping its people safe while continuing to provide the full range of banking services for its customers. The bank is enabling as many colleagues as possible across its network to work from home, with the remaining based in the office following safe-distancing and precautionary measures.

"We have also given each one of our colleagues a box of 50 face masks for their personal use and have put together for them an online training programme which builds resilience and a growth mindset. We are focused on riding out these extraordinarily difficult times together and being prepared for the future," he said.

"As the Covid-19 pandemic affects more people globally, UOB remains focused on doing our part to protect the well-being of our colleagues, customers and the community. We continue to monitor the situation closely and have been proactive in stepping up our precautionary measures based on the latest advice from the authorities."

The Singapore banks join global financial institutions such as Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Visa in vowing to keep jobs despite the economic downturn as caused by the pandemic.

Globally, the three banks easily hire more than 80,000 employees, with most of them based in the home markets of Singapore.

The virus outbreak has meant most businesses rolling down physical shutters in Singapore, as the Republic imposed a month-long "circuit-breaker" to keep more people at home, so as to prevent the virus from spreading further. With the lower footfall and to ensure staff welfare, banks have also closed several branches here.

As at 12pm on April 8, Singapore has had a total of 1,623 cases of Covid-19. They include 142 new cases reported on April 8, of which 140 are local. To add, 406 have fully recovered from the infection.

The Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that a 32-year-old died at his residence on April 8 and was confirmed to have been infected with Covid-19 after his death. He was a male Indian national who was a long-term pass holder in Singapore, and had been swabbed for Covid-19 on April 7. Investigations are ongoing. Six have been confirmed to have died from complications related to the virus in Singapore.