240 staff axed by Singtel's Hooq face uncertain future

Some former employees are disappointed with how they were given the boot

Published Wed, Apr 22, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

VIDEO streaming service Hooq Digital, a joint venture company in which Singtel has an indirect 76.5 per cent effective interest, had to sack its global workforce of 240 people across six markets, including about 98 in Singapore, after it entered liquidation on March 27.

In response to queries by The Business Times, a Singtel spokesperson said that the group "voluntarily stepped in to take over obligations to pay Hooq employees' payroll and notice periods according to the laws of the countries in which they were based".

According to axed workers here, their notice period stated in their contracts range from one to three months.

While the terminations were not a surprise given the liquidation, former workers told BT that they were blindsided by how suddenly the company went straight to that point without any earlier sign that it was in trouble. Five-year-old Hooq is still loss-making, but that is pa…