Uber Technologies, the renowned American ride hailing company, is reportedly planning to move its Asia-Pacific HQ out of Singapore over the coming 12 months, as COVID-19 outbreak continues to disturb its business. The APAC hub would be shifted to another city within the region.

The US-based firm would likewise lay-off around 3,000 more individuals on a global level and would also stop some of the company’s investment which are not related to its main business of delivery and ride hailing. As per the company, the dismissals and ultimate closure of the Singapore office would also hit nearly 120 jobs.

Last year in April, Uber had opened its APAC hub at Frasers Tower, located on Cecil Street to support its APAC operations in countries such as New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, South Korea, Bangladesh, and Taiwan.

The company had announced the layoff of nearly 3,700 full-time employees from its recruiting and customer support teams on May 6^th, 2020. The move would cause it to incur approximately US$20 million in costs related to termination benefits and severance pay.

Moreover, the company further planned to keep providing the laid-off employees with 10 weeks’ pay while also continuing to provide health benefits till the end of the current year. The most recent layoffs also meant that the worldwide headcount would be cut by about a quarter.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Chief Executive, Uber, stated that given the dramatic effect of the pandemic and the ambiguous nature of any possible recovery, the company is focusing its efforts on its delivery platforms and mobility services along with resizing its organization to match the conditions of its business.

The ride-hailing business has endured a significant fall as large segments of the US and the whole world have shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection.

Source credit: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/uber-to-move-asia-pacific-hq-out-of-spore-as-virus-impact-worsens