Forget business as usual – transformation is the new normal

ELECTROLUX is shutting its Singapore regional headquarters, while Tetra Pak will close its Singapore factory, with 300 workers affected. Meanwhile, retrenchments in the Republic more than doubled to 14,320 last year.

Some may wonder if Singapore is losing its mojo, or if we are being priced out of the competition, with our value eroded because of constraints in manpower and land.

We could not have predicted Covid-19 and the onslaught it had on the global economy. Business transformation took a backseat as companies fought to survive. The world is now very different. Economic fragmentation, wars, the end of cheap money and rapid technological advancements have changed the rules of the game.