Tetra Pak to cut 300 employees, close Jurong factory as part of consolidation move
Tetra Pak will also relocate its corporate office to a new location in Singapore. It will be one of its largest offices in Asia Pacific with a capacity of up to 250 people.
Tetra Pak has been present in Singapore since 1958. (Photo: Tetra Pak website)
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27 Feb 2024 07:39PM(Updated: 27 Feb 2024 10:26PM)
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SINGAPORE: About 300 Tetra Pak employees will be retrenched as the company moves to close its Jurong factory as part of plans to consolidate production into its other facilities in the region.
This shift will take place over the next 12 months, Tetra Pak said in a press release on Tuesday (Feb 27).
The food processing and packaging solutions company said employees were informed of the decision earlier the same day and that discussions have been set up throughout the week to “offer new opportunities or outplacement support”.
“Tetra Pak is committed to supporting all impacted employees by delivering above and beyond all applicable statutory requirements and ensuring they are treated with the utmost respect and care, in line with company values.”
In response to queries from CNA, Tetra Pak said the changes affect those mainly in manufacturing.
“We understand and recognise that this is not easy for our employees. The company has weighed every option to create the best social package for them. Our priority was to ensure that every single employee would be well taken care of, said the company.
“We will be offering an enhanced social package to employees whose roles are directly impacted, in line with our internal policy and including the statutory redundancy requirements.”
Tetra Pak said further details and the package terms according to roles and positions will be provided one-on-one between each employee with the human resources team.
OPERATIONAL COST EFFICIENCY
The Tetra Pak Packaging Materials factory in Jurong started operations in 1982, supplying customers in Singapore and serving as an export base. It was one of Tetra Pak's largest packaging materials factories in the world.The Singapore website lists Pokka, Yeo's, Fonterra, Nestle and F&N among its business partners.
“However, with market dynamics changing significantly over the past decades, the company recognises the need to adapt in order to maintain competitiveness. Striking a delicate balance between market demands, industrial footprint optimisation, and operational cost efficiency is paramount,” it said.
The company consulted the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) ahead of the announcement and said that it will also leverage NTUC's e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), with support from Workforce Singapore (WSG) and NTUC LearningHub (NTUC LHUB), to host a job fair to support career conversion with different companies and provide onsite training.
“The company will also engage with employees keen to apply for other positions in Tetra Pak, locally or in the region,” it added.
RETRENCHMENT SUPPORT
FDAWU said in a separate statement that the affected workers will receive retrenchment support packages in line with unionised norms.Affected workers will additionally benefit from numerous “good practices”, both monetary and non-monetary, following the union’s discussions with the company.
“Through FDAWU’s close working relationship with Tetra Pak, the company gave early notification of the consolidation exercise and coordinated with us to provide adequate support to retrenched workers and facilitate job opportunities for affected workers,” said the union’s general secretary Tan Hock Soon.
“Through discussions between FDAWU and Tetra Pak, the parties were able to align on better retrenchment support packages for affected workers.”
Concurrent with the consolidation exercise, Tetra Pak will relocate its corporate office to a new location in Singapore by the end of this year. It will be one of its largest offices in Asia Pacific with a capacity of up to 250 people.
“The company will maintain a strong business presence in Singapore to support its global growth with core operational functions, including business management, project centres, IT, human resources, finance and marketing functions.”
According to its website, Tetra Pak has more than 24,000 employees worldwide. Its regional presence includes offices or facilities in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
