Ninja Van axes 10% of regional tech team, more than 20 employees in S’pore affected

Following a “cost evaluation”, Ninja Van has laid off about 10 per cent or 21 employees of its tech staff on Monday (April 29) after it determined that they were “no longer required”.

The employees were all based in Singapore, and represented about 20 per cent of the tech team in the city-state, the Business Times reports.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the cuts were across the board and not focused on any particular team.

Affected employees were informed after an all-hands tech team meeting on Monday, while those who were not laid off were given the rest of that day off. All meetings for the day were cancelled to give teammates “privacy and space to process the news”.

When contacted by Vulcan Post, a Ninja Van spokesperson said that these employees would receive a “reasonable severance package to support their transition beyond Ninja Van”.

This includes garden leave until the official last day in May 31, 2024, one month of severance pay per full year of employment, and an extension of medical insurance and mental health support, valid until June 30, 2024.

They will also be kept in the company chat and given office access till the end of the week to facilitate proper farewell.

Meanwhile, for those with unvested share options, their deadline for exercising vested options was extended from 30 days to a year.

“An absolute last resort”

“Layoffs are an absolute last resort, and we have done all we can to cut costs across the organisation, but sadly, it still wasn’t enough,” said Cheehan Tee, Ninja Van’s vice president for engineering in an email sent to staff.

However, he stressed that Ninja Van is “not cutting the size and capability” of its tech team but is “optimising” associated costs.

Ninja Van’s layoffs come after the logistics company’s revenue declined 7 per cent year on year in FY2023, mainly due to an almost 20 per cent drop in parcels handled. Its operating losses also grew 32 per cent in the same period.

Despite this, Ninja Van’s CEO, Lai Chang Wen, expects the company to report EBITDA breakeven in 2025 with the firm’s expansion into new verticals apart from e-commerce, including its B2B arm Ninja Mart and its cold chain logistics business.

Featured Image Credit: Ninja Van Singapore