Online travel agency Agoda has laid off roughly 50 employees in Singapore. The cuts are part of a wider workforce reduction hitting three countries.
The Singapore-based company broke the news during a private virtual meeting on August 4, 2025. The axe fell on customer experience departments in Singapore, Shanghai, and Budapest.
But the layoffs aren’t the main story here.
Severance Deal Sparks Controversy
Workers who got the boot received severance packages with some eyebrow-raising clauses. Labour groups and government agencies are up in arms about what’s inside these agreements.
The contracts allegedly told employees to keep quiet about reporting to government bodies, statutory boards, or trade unions. This includes the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management, and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices.
Break these rules? Kiss your severance goodbye. Workers could even face demands to pay back money they’d already received. Agoda would treat the sum as debt and chase down all legal costs too.
Officials Fire Back
MOM has opened an investigation into what it calls “inappropriate” severance clauses. The ministry jumped in after concerns surfaced about whether the agreement terms were legal or ethical.
The National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union released a joint statement. They said they were “appalled” by the allegations. NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng called Agoda’s alleged approach “deeply disappointing.”
“This practice, if true, is irresponsible and regrettable. It goes against a fundamental right of every worker — the right to seek redress when they face workplace issues,” the labour groups stated.
Agoda Defends Move
Agoda confirmed the layoffs were “in line with Agoda’s continuous improvement drive to boost operational efficiency.” A company spokesperson said they had “phased out customer support roles” in the three locations while creating new jobs elsewhere.
“This move consolidates our customer support teams in areas where we have the strongest operational flexibility and capability as we continue to grow our business,” the spokesperson added.
The company says it remains committed to maintaining a strong local presence in Singapore. It continues to follow relevant local laws.
Agoda stated that affected employees received support throughout the transition process. Workers were free to seek legal options or engage with authorities.
Worker Speaks Out
One laid-off employee dropped a bombshell. Management had previously explained during internal meetings that Singapore customer experience staff existed “mainly to satisfy the local workforce quota” under the S Pass scheme.
The scheme requires companies to maintain a certain ratio of local employees to hire foreign workers. The employee described feeling treated as “part of a quota” and tossed aside when no longer useful to the company.
The affected staff ranged from customer specialists to regional managers. They made up multilingual support teams that handled traveller questions. The retrenched employee’s final work day was set for September 3, 2025.
