The retrenchment of contractual staff was conducted in tandem with that of full-timers. Contract workers were particularly surprised by the news as IBM’s management had announced in October 2017 that their contracts would be renewed for another three years.

Additionally, the finalised retrenchment package was also conveyed in a June exercise by a junior manager without the presence of a HR representative.

Contract staff were then told that IBM would only be paying them two weeks per year of service based on the minimum requirement of Singapore’s Employment Act.

Claims for a pro-rated annual wage supplement (AWS) were also rejected, as the workers “did not complete a 12-month cycle to be entitled” following the retrenchment.

“The news was shocking to us, as our operation manager has stated during the first announcement to re-size our operations that he will try to seek compensation from IBM,” the former staff wrote.