Recruitment platform Glints lays off 18% of staff

GLINTS, a Singapore-based startup focused on career development and talent recruitment, has retrenched 18 per cent of its team, sources said.

The company had over 1,000 employees before retrenchment. Glints’ management cited a slowdown in its business growth in the short term, after market uncertainty and reduced consumer spending affected the customers it serves.

In an address to staff on Wednesday (Dec 7), Glints chief executive Oswald Yeo said 2021 “was a year of solid growth”.

“We doubled down on the tech sector, which was experiencing phenomenal growth. We also doubled down on remote hiring and expansion into new markets, including the Philippines,” said Yeo in his address, which was made public on the company’s blog.

He added: “However, the markets have changed drastically over the past six months. Many businesses have been hit hard… There will be a continued slowdown in hiring in the meantime as global economic recovery is uncertain.”

Glints’ founders and management team have taken pay cuts, while perks and expenses have been reduced.

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The company is providing one month’s worth of salary in severance for every year of service. Employees with less than a year of service will be provided with at least two months of salary, with the difference being rounded up.

Remaining leave will be encashed, including in countries where it is not legally required.

Glints is also removing the one-year cliff on its employee stock option plan (ESOP) for staff who have been with the company for less than a year.

For the rest, the next ESOP vesting schedule will be accelerated by six months.

Glints is among the wave of startups globally that are rapidly cutting headcount and expenses to prolong their cash runways as external funding sources tighten, and revenue growth slows down.

The company, founded in 2013 by college dropouts, announced a US$50 million fundraise earlier this year in a Series D round that brought its total funds raised to US$80 million.

Yeo said that the company will continue to invest in its long-term vision, and has seen encouraging trends.

Glints’ year-to-date net revenue on the demand side is up 101 per cent year on year. On the supply side, marketplace job applications were up 160 per cent year on year in the third quarter.

“The crisis has given us, as founders, the opportunity for self-reflection and to learn from our mistakes. This downturn has forced us to take a hard look at ourselves and our business and to return to our core principles,” he said.