Carousell sheds 76 employees in latest round of layoffs

CAROUSELL has axed 76 jobs across its regional offices on Friday (Dec 6) after a company-wide town hall in the morning.

The affected staff represents 7 per cent of the total headcount and includes employees in the Singapore office.

In a statement released on Friday, the platform said that the layoffs were done to match market reality in some business units, and to reallocate resources to areas that are showing promise. “These adjustments aim to ensure the long-term sustainability and operational efficiency of our group,” said a Carousell spokesperson.

This round of layoffs follows from cuts made in December 2022, where 110 employees were affected as part of cost-cutting measures which included moving out of its Rochester Park office to one with significantly lower rent. Laku6, a company Carousell acquired in July 2022, also laid off about 17 per cent of its employees.

The affected employees were informed individually by their department heads and a human resources representative. Their layoff package includes one month of salary for every year of service, with a minimum of three months’ salary.

Leave and flexible benefits will be encashed, with accelerated vesting for employee stock options, where applicable. Medical and insurance coverage will be extended to June 2025, and career support such as job search tools, and career counselling and employment assistance will be provided.

The employees will be able to keep their office laptop, and relocation support, as well as allowing employment pass holders to serve full notice so that their right to stay is not terminated early, will be offered.

Carousell will also be paying the union membership for the staff for the next 12 months.

“We remain committed to working closely with the Creative Media and Publishing Union (CMPU) to ensure that all impacted employees receive fair compensation packages and are provided with the necessary support during their transition period,” said the spokesperson.

In a statement to the media, CMPU said that it was informed by Carousell that a retrenchment exercise is being undertaken. The company had assured the union that it had explored all alternative options before embarking on this exercise. The union said that it has worked with Carousell to ensure that affected members and workers are offered fair compensation packages, in accordance with the Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment, and are provided the necessary support while they transit to their next job.

Access to Union Training Assistance Programme funding to offset training course fees will be offered to affected union members should they require skills upgrading. Further help – via various assistance programmes – will be offered to members who may face financial hardship.

The platform still believes in the potential for recommerce and its strategy remains unchanged. Carousell will continue to build up its recommerce business to serve more user segments.

“We will also continue to stay focused on our users, and make selling and buying secondhand simple by leveraging our core passions in product and technology, including deepening our efforts in artificial intelligence,” added the spokesperson.