ASIA-FOCUSED food delivery player foodpanda is laying off staff in its bid to cut costs, the company said on Tuesday (Sep 6) in response to queries from The Business Times (BT).

However, it did not address BT’s questions on the affected number of staff, as well as the exact markets and roles in which the layoffs are happening.

The job cuts were reported on Sep 2 by tech news outlet DealStreetAsia, which cited sources on the matter. According to the report, foodpanda let go of 5 per cent of its Singapore-based regional team last week. The company also reportedly announced that it will axe 150 staff, or 20 per cent of its headcount in the Philippines, in addition to job cuts in Thailand.

foodpanda has been operating across Asia for 10 years, and in July designated Singapore as its regional headquarters. At that point, the company said its Singapore office houses 1,200 employees across local and regional operations, as well as its global tech hub.

The layoffs come as foodpanda’s German parent company Delivery Hero faces increasing pressure to turn a profit amid volatile market conditions.

“With Delivery Hero’s clear objective to become Ebitda-positive, there is a critical need now to reduce costs and move to profitability to remain competitive,” a foodpanda spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

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“We have made the painful decision to downsize some teams. We are supporting impacted employees to help them through this transition, through employee assistance programmes and extended insurance and benefits.

“To our impacted colleagues – we are very sorry we let them down; we will forever be grateful for their contributions and dedication to foodpanda,” she added.