Jobless in 15 minutes? Singapore-based Muslim Pro owner Bitsmedia lays off 21 staff, ex-employees question retrenchment process

Bitsmedia, the company behind global lifestyle app Muslim Pro, has reportedly retrenched 21 employees, including 17 based in Singapore, as part of a restructuring exercise.

Affected employees were informed of the layoffs on Aug 31 and had their employment terminated on the same day.

The retrenchment exercise also affected employees from Bitsmedia's Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh offices, but most of those affected were based at its Singapore headquarters.

AsiaOne understands that 14 Singaporeans were affected in the exercise which primarily involved the content, marketing, product and business development teams.

The employees affected had served the company for varying periods, ranging from about six months to more than five years.

Bitsmedia said in its retrenchment notice, signed off by co-CEO Muhammad Syakir Bin Hashim, that it was implementing cost-saving measures and reducing its workforce as part of a "restructuring exercise to align the company’s goals and objectives with its long-term strategic plans".

Checks by AsiaOne show that Bitsmedia has between 11 and 50 employees, according to its LinkedIn page.

Jobless in 15 minutes

Affected employees shared their concerns about how the retrenchment was handled, saying it lacked empathy.

AsiaOne understands that employees were told to come to the office on Aug 31 without knowing a retrenchment exercise was about to take place.

Affected individuals were then alerted by the Human Resource team to enter a meeting room. They emerged one after another having lost their jobs.

"As employees gradually realised what was happening, the atmosphere across the office changed completely. Colleagues were visibly distressed," said one former employee, who requested anonymity.

The former employee added: "People were crying."

Affected employees were told that their positions had been made redundant and were presented with retrenchment documentation.

"There was almost no opportunity to absorb what had just happened."

In a letter seen by AsiaOne, former employees alleged that for some staff, the entire process from being informed of the retrenchment to leaving the office took around 15 minutes.

"We recognise that a company has legitimate information-security reasons for terminating access and recovering its equipment. Our concern is not that Bitsmedia took those steps," said the former employees in the letter.

Rather, they explained that they took issue with how the retrenchment exercise was carried out, "with seemingly little space for dignity, privacy or even the basic human need to process what had happened".

"For some of us, the most painful part was not simply being told that our roles were redundant. It was the feeling that years of contribution, trust, relationships and service could be dismantled within approximately 15 minutes," a former employee wrote.

Issues with payment and stakeholders

Affected employees were provided with a retrenchment benefit equivalent to two weeks' salary regardless of their length of service, which left some questioning why long-serving employees received the same amount as colleagues who had been with the company for a much shorter period.

Former employees also wondered why the payment also varied from the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) prevailing Tripartite norm for eligible employees, which was two weeks to one month's salary per year of service.

MOM's responsible-retrenchment guidance also states that employers must pay all salaries, including unused annual leave and notice pay, on employees' last day of work.

However, the payment in lieu of notice was credited to the former employees on Sept 8.

The retrenched staff also alleged that their former colleagues had to "absorb work previously performed by specialist colleagues" and "external partners dealing with affected employees were left seeking clarity about ongoing matters and projects".

'AI was not a factor'

Bitsmedia's managing director and CEO, Nafees Khundker, confirmed the job cuts to Tech in Asia.

“The restructuring reflected those priorities, and a broader effort to simplify how the company operates,” Khundker told Tech in Asia.

He added: “AI was not a factor in the decision.”

Khundker declined to disclose the exact layoff figures but reportedly said that the company has no plans for further restructuring at the moment.

Founded in 2009, Bitsmedia created Muslim Pro to help Muslims across 190 countries track prayer times, find the direction of the Kaabah for prayers and access the Quran online in various languages.

According to its website, Muslim Pro was created in 2010 and has over 190 million downloads globally.

The company also launched Qalbox, a video streaming service within Muslim Pro in 2022 and added other features including an AI-powered Islamic chatbot called Ask AiDeen.

In 2023, Bitsmedia reportedly raised US$20 million (S$25.5 million) led by Gobi Partners alongside CMIA Capital Partners and Bintang Capital Partners.

AsiaOne has contacted Bitsmedia, MOM, NTUC and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) for comment.

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com

据报道，全球生活方式应用 Muslim Pro 的母公司 Bitsmedia 已裁员 21 人，其中包括 17 名新加坡员工，这是公司重组计划的一部分。

受影响的员工于 8 月 31 日被告知裁员消息，并于当日被解雇。

此次裁员也影响了 Bitsmedia 在马来西亚、印度尼西亚和孟加拉国办事处的员工，但受影响的大多数员工都位于其新加坡总部。

AsiaOne了解到，此次演习中有14名新加坡人受到影响，主要涉及内容、营销、产品和业务开发团队。

受影响的员工在公司的工作年限各不相同，从大约六个月到五年多不等。

Bitsmedia 在其裁员通知中表示，该公司正在实施节约成本的措施并减少员工人数，这是“重组计划的一部分，旨在使公司的目标和宗旨与其长期战略计划保持一致”。该通知由联合首席执行官 Muhammad Syakir Bin Hashim 签署。

AsiaOne 的调查显示，根据 Bitsmedia 的 LinkedIn 页面，该公司拥有 11 至 50 名员工。

15分钟内失业

受影响的员工表达了他们对裁员处理方式的担忧，称公司缺乏同理心。

AsiaOne了解到，员工们被告知在8月31日到办公室上班，但他们并不知道即将进行裁员。

随后，人力资源团队通知受影响的员工进入会议室。他们一个接一个地出来，发现自己已经失去了工作。

“随着员工们逐渐意识到发生了什么，整个办公室的气氛完全变了。同事们明显感到很沮丧，”一位要求匿名的前员工说道。

这位前员工补充说：“人们都在哭。”

受影响的员工被告知他们的职位已被裁撤，并收到了裁员文件。

“几乎没有时间去消化刚刚发生的事情。”

AsiaOne 看到的一封信中，前员工声称，对于某些员工来说，从被告知裁员到离开办公室的整个过程大约只用了 15 分钟。

“我们理解公司出于信息安全考虑终止访问权限和收回设备是合理的。我们关注的并非Bitsmedia采取了这些措施，”这些前员工在信中写道。

相反，他们解释说，他们对裁员的实施方式有异议，“似乎没有给员工留下任何尊严、隐私，甚至没有给他们处理所发生事情的基本人类需求留下任何空间”。

一位前员工写道：“对我们中的一些人来说，最痛苦的不仅仅是被告知我们的职位被裁撤了。而是感觉多年的贡献、信任、人际关系和服务，可能在短短15分钟内就被摧毁殆尽。”

支付和利益相关者方面的问题

受影响的员工无论工龄长短，都获得了相当于两周工资的裁员补偿金，这让一些人质疑，为什么工龄较长的员工与在公司工作时间短得多的同事获得的金额相同。

前雇员们还想知道，为什么支付的金额与人力部 (MOM) 为符合条件的雇员制定的现行三方标准有所不同，该标准规定每服务一年支付两周到一个月的工资。

人力部负责任裁员指南还规定，雇主必须在员工最后一天工作时支付所有工资，包括未使用的年假和通知期工资。

然而，代替通知期的款项已于 9 月 8 日记入前雇员的账户。

被裁员工还声称，他们的前同事不得不“承担以前由专业同事完成的工作”，而且“与受影响员工打交道的外部合作伙伴不得不寻求对正在进行的事项和项目的明确说明”。

“人工智能并非影响因素”

Bitsmedia 的董事总经理兼首席执行官 Nafees Khundker 向 Tech in Asia 证实了裁员消息。

Khundker告诉Tech in Asia：“此次重组体现了这些优先事项，以及简化公司运营方式的更广泛努力。”

他补充说：“人工智能并非决策的考虑因素。”

Khundker拒绝透露具体的裁员人数，但据报道他表示，公司目前没有进一步重组的计划。

Bitsmedia 成立于 2009 年，创建了 Muslim Pro，旨在帮助 190 个国家的穆斯林追踪祈祷时间、找到克尔白祈祷的方向，并以各种语言在线访问《古兰经》。

据其官网介绍，Muslim Pro 创建于 2010 年，全球下载量超过 1.9 亿次。

该公司还在 2022 年推出了 Muslim Pro 中的视频流媒体服务 Qalbox，并添加了其他功能，包括名为 Ask AiDeen 的人工智能伊斯兰聊天机器人。

据报道，Bitsmedia 于 2023 年筹集了 2000 万美元（2550 万新元），由戈壁创投领投，CMIA Capital Partners 和 Bintang Capital Partners 参投。

AsiaOne 已联系 Bitsmedia、人力部、全国职工总会和公平进步就业实践三方联盟 (TAFEP) 征求意见。

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com