Tag: Employees

United States – Global data technology giant Oracle has started laying off an undisclosed number of its employees in marketing and the US customer experience units, which started last Monday, 1 August 2022.

In a report made by Bloomberg, a few workers from Oracle were told that their position had been removed on Monday, while junior sales employees and a division sales director were amongst those dismissed. There are also rumours of pending cuts which were swirled through the division in recent weeks, but the management said the positions were safe.

Moreover, the same report said that a former senior manager of sales engineering said on LinkedIn that Oracle has ‘decided to reorganise’ its customer experience group. Meanwhile, in a separate post, another manager, whose position was cut, shared the restructuring for the job reductions. Another former senior manager and group vice president also cited on LinkedIn that some marketing positions were also dismissed.

The layoffs follow Oracle’s recent acquisition of health information technology firm Cerner Corp., for $28b. The company looks to health care to spur its effort in the competitive market for cloud technology.

Singapore – Dentsu, a media and communications powerhouse with over 11,000 employees in 17 markets in its APAC division, has launched a new initiative called ‘Common Ground’ in the goal to unite its internal expansive network.

The launch is in line with this year’s Diversity Month. The ‘Common Ground’ is a way for employees at dentsu to make connections in other markets and regions based on their common interests, such as food, sports, music, and travel, as well as books, and film. The fellowship is simple: any dentsu employee is able to participate through a matching form, and will then be matched with a ‘dentsu twin’ for a surprise 30-minute phone call. 

“By using common interests as a way to reflect diversity, the company believes its people will shine through,” said dentsu. 

The company said that the team for the initiative, which was led by Dentsu’s DEI lead in APAC, Merlee Jayme, and Gautam Reghunath, CEO of dentsu webchutney, was finding a way to make out something better off the over year-long virtual set up of the workforce, and thought that maybe virtual meetings were an opportunity to bring its people together across APAC, and that the virtual environment can actually become the most unfiltered way to strike a conversation beyond work. 

To find out, the team piloted the program with eight volunteers and had incredible outcomes, deciding then to scale it to the rest of the region.

“We’re thrilled with ‘Common Ground’ volunteers in Japan, Thailand, India, the Philippines, and Australia exchanging Instagram handles and making travel plans to countries already. ‘Common Ground’ has something for everyone at dentsu, and we’re proud to launch during diversity month. I can’t wait to see how it brings people together in new ways across our network,” commented Jayme. 

Meanwhile, Ashish Bhasin, the CEO of dentsu APAC, said that its talents are as ingenious as they are diverse, and that the company has always bet on the serendipitous connections across regions, believing that it’s the kind of organic engagement that’s gonna take it to places.

“In a data-rich world, I’m proud all the pairings will happen based on actual interests and actual people. The team has asked me to be patient before I get to meet my dentsu twin,” commented Bhasin.

Singapore – Almost two thirds of workers in Singapore, or 65% of them expect that their industry will change for the better after COVID-19 due to the changes being implemented amid pandemic response, according to a research by customer experience tech Qualtrics.

The Qualtrics study surveyed 800 Singaporeans, and more than half, or 57% rated their employer’s response to the pandemic as “above average.”

With many people working from home during the pandemic, a large portion, 42% of respondents, said their employee experience has improved during the pandemic, while the same number said it has remained the same. 

The most effective actions employers have taken to make their teams feel more valued throughout this period leaned more on workplace flexibility with 51% of companies, followed by gratitude from the direct manager, and improved benefits, both with 21% of companies undertaking such measures.

“As a result of their employers’ quick thinking and actions, the majority of workers across Singapore say they feel a lot more valued at their company, and a lot more proud  to work for them,” Qualtrics SEA Head Mao Gen Foo said.

“While many have made steps in the right direction, businesses cannot afford to take their foot off the gas. Employees want to be listened to, and there is more change on the road ahead as people return and industries adapt,” added Mao Gen.

The new normal in the workplace

While employees have imparted the present measures their companies are undertaking, they  also gave insight into what actions they want to see more of from employers.

For 77% of Singaporeans, it’s important that their employer asks for feedback on what action can be taken to make them feel more confident about returning. 

Within such desired feedback, the study revealed that a flexible work schedule is the most coveted change that workers want to see in the workplace with 69% of them expressing it as a top concern.

This was followed by wanting companies to have a higher focus on personal hygiene with 44%, while about 39% said that actions should be taken to have greater focus on employee mental health. Meanwhile, almost the same number said that freedom to choose their work location is a factor.

Mao Gen said that while employees can agree prioritising safety and hygiene is essential moving forward, there is a slight gap between the actions they want to see, and which they expect to see outside of this. 

“Singaporeans want to see their employers continue to focus on offering more workplace flexibility – such as less time spent commuting, and wearing more comfortable clothing to work,” said Mao Gen.