Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab to freeze hiring amid global economic uncertainty
Nickie Louise
Posted On December 15, 2022
Tech layoffs are rising around the world as companies cut costs to cope with uncertain global economic challenges. Mass layoffs, which started early this year in the United States and later in Europe, have now spread to Asia. Early this month, Indonesia’s biggest tech company GoTo announced the plan to lay off 12% of its workforce.
Today, Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab is reportedly planning to freeze hiring as the global economic downturn takes a toll on the company.
Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan told staff in a memo that the company is planning to cut costs including a freeze on most hiring, salary freezes for senior managers, and cuts in travel and expense budgets, according to a report from Reuters, citing a memo issued on Wednesday. A company spokesperson further confirmed the content of the memo.
Early this year, Grab shut down some of its business units and reduced spending on incentives as the company tried to stem losses. The latest measures by the SIngapore-based company underscore the extent to which it is preparing for tougher economic conditions in 2023.
The 10-year-old Grab operates in eight Southeast Asian countries and had about 8,800 staff at the end of last year. The company is the biggest ride-hailing provider ranging from simple taxi services to now private car services (GrabCar), motorcycle taxis (GrabBike), last-mile delivery (GrabExpress), ride sharing (GrabShare), and food delivery (GrabFood).
Grab was founded in 2012 by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling. Grab made global headlines in 2018 when it bought the Southeast Asian business of Uber Technologies Inc in return for the U.S. ride-hailing company taking a stake in Grab.
The Singapore-based Grab is a ride-hailing platform that offers booking services for taxis, private cars, and motorbikes through one mobile. Grab offers a wide range of services through one mobile app and has been driving Southeast Asia forward since 2012. Grab’s major investors include Softbank, Uber, and Didi Chuxing.
