DBS Group, South-east Asia's biggest bank by assets, said in the first week of last month that it would retrench 900 workers from Hong Kong and Singapore to cut costs. The announcement created a furore.
The bank was criticised by Singapore's labour chief, Mr Lim Swee Say, for not consulting its staff union on the sudden decision.
It is generally perceived that DBS chose retrenchment as its first resort rather than as a last resort. The newspapers received many letters from readers censuring DBS' approach to handing out its pink slips.
Last week, the bank defended its decision to lay off 450 employees in Singapore, saying that it had already tried a hiring freeze, along with other measures, including tiered pay reductions.
But, to my great surprise, I spotted an online advertisement last Thursday saying that POSB - a subsidiary of DBS - is hiring again, less than two weeks after the retrenchment notice by its parent bank.
The job advertisement states that POSB wants to fill many executive positions.
DBS could have redeployed some of its retrenched staff to those positions.
Perhaps the authorities should look into this seriously.
Such corporate decisions affect the mood of workers in large financial institutions, and also affect national morale during bad times.
