GovTech expects roughly 270 to 350 employees to be affected over the next two years, including a third round of layoffs.

The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) has retrenched 38 employees, in the second of three planned rounds of layoffs. The cuts are meant to reduce reliance on vendors and let the team take greater ownership of its products.

The 38 affected roles were primarily structured around traditional project delivery, GovTech said in a media reply on Oct 22.

GovTech also reviewed other employees.

“Following the workforce review, 106 officers will remain in their current roles, while another 106 are eligible for conversion and apprenticeship pathways to transition into new roles,” said GovTech, adding that those doing apprenticeships will be supported throughout the transition process.

The agency said it has prioritised retaining, retraining and redeploying its officers wherever possible, as it did in the first phase.

The first round of layoffs began in Jul, when 93 of GovTech’s 3,900-strong workforce were retrenched. The agency expects a total of 7% to 9% (roughly 270 to 350 employees in total) of its workforce to be affected over the next two years, including a third round. The exercise affects staff deployed to 23 government agencies.

GovTech said it will continue working with the Public Service Division, Skills and Workforce Development Agency, and Amalgamated Union of Statutory Board Employees to provide career coaching, job matching and placement assistance.

The agency said in Jul that retrenched staff would receive one month’s salary for every year of service, capped at 25 years, plus a three-month ex-gratia payment, and salary and benefits through a six-week handover and notice period.

Image Credit: Shawn Huang Wei Zhong 黄伟中 via Facebook

Explaining the need for the changes, GovTech chairman Chng Kai Fong said that critical systems increasingly demand in-house capabilities, so the agency can respond and adjust quickly to national needs.

As the world grows more digital, he said, modern technological development requires far more control and agility, and the need for critical government digital infrastructure has “grown tremendously.”

Left unchanged, he warned, “legacy systems become harder to secure, harder to change and more vulnerable to failure.”

GovTech needs people who can define problems, shape architecture, make sound build-or-buy decisions and defend its systems, Chng said. “Vendors will remain important partners, but accountability for our core systems now sits with us.”

He pointed to Singpass, Parents Gateway and CDC vouchers as examples: “These cannot be specified once, handed to a vendor and considered done. Teams must build, operate, secure and keep improving them, with full accountability.”

The agency expects to employ more people at the end of the exercise, Chng said. “We need more software engineers, product managers, designers, data specialists and cybersecurity professionals.”

Checks by Vulcan Post on Oct 23 found around 276 open positions listed by GovTech on Careers@Gov, the civil service jobs portal, including software engineers, product managers, product operations specialists, data scientists and engineers, and designers.

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Featured Image Credit: CMG