Agoda has cut jobs across its customer experience operations, including around 50 roles in Singapore, as part of a broader global restructuring. Affected employees in Singapore, Shanghai, and Budapest were informed during a closed virtual town hall on August 4 that all Customer Experience Group (CEG) positions in these locations would be eliminated due to ‘cost’ pressures and ‘recruitment challenges.’ Roles affected ranged from customer service specialists to regional managers.
The move comes amid broader operational shifts, including the company’s expansion of lower-cost CEG sites in Gurgaon, Foshan, and Cairo. Sources indicated that the Singapore CEG operations had limited career progression, partly due to staffing quotas that prioritised foreign IT and engineering talent. Employees seeking advancement were advised to consider relocating to other offices.
Agoda’s severance terms reportedly include clauses that would forfeit benefits if employees report the layoffs to statutory bodies such as Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) or the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep). The company also intends to seek an income tax waiver on layoff compensation and requires employees to indemnify Agoda against legal costs if claims are made.
These job cuts highlight workforce shifts in the travel-tech sector, as companies optimise costs and adjust talent distribution in response to operational needs, regional quotas, and evolving regulatory frameworks. The move also underscores challenges for local staff in higher-cost markets like Singapore, where career growth and retention may be impacted by offshore expansion and new regulatory requirements, including higher S Pass qualifying salaries introduced from September 2025.
The development raises questions about career stability, succession planning, and workforce localisation in the region’s tech and customer service sectors.