Ride-hailing firm Grab cutting 1,000 jobs as part of restructuring

Hundreds of jobs are on the chopping block at Grab Holdings as the ride-hailing and food delivery app operator restructures its business.

In a email to staff on June 20, CEO Anthony Tan announced that the Singapore-based company is laying off more than 1,000 employees — calling the decision a “painful but necessary step.”

“We must adapt to the environment in which we operate. Change has never been this fast,” Tan said.

“Technology such as Generative AI is evolving at breakneck speed. The cost of capital has gone up, directly impacting the competitive landscape.”

He added that the restructuring will allow Grab to “move faster, work smarter, and rebalance our resources across our portfolio in line with our longer term strategies.”

The latest round of job cuts is the company’s largest reduction since June 2020. Grab eliminated approximately 360 positions as it grappled with economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to LinkedIn, the company employs a global workforce of more than 43,000 people. Over 20 workers are located in Canada.

Major tech layoffs continue

The reduction at Grab comes amid a flurry of tech sector layoffs in 2023.

Major North American companies, including Spotify, Meta, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Dell, Amazon, Alphabet, and Clearco, are significantly scaling back their staffing levels as they continue to navigate challenging economic conditions.

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Termination agreements for Grab employees

As part of the layoff announcement, Tan said Grab will provide affected workers with a severance payment of “half a month for every six months of completed service, or based on local statutory guidelines, whichever is higher.”

In Canada, non-unionized employees at the company are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing or corporate restructuring.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance for technology industry employees
• Severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance packages in mass layoffs

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.

In some cases, employers pressure staff into accepting poor severance packages, such as imposing a deadline for accepting the offer.

Non-unionized employees in Canada have up to two years from the date of their dismissal to pursue a claim for full severance pay.