Online travel platform Agoda has confirmed the layoffs of customer support staff in its Singapore Shanghai and Budapest offices with about 50 employees affected in Singapore alone.  The exercise was notified on August 4 in a closed virtual town hall. Roles impacted are from customer specialists to regional managers covering teams responsible for multilingual support and traveler queries. Agoda layoffs In Singapore Shanghai And Budapest  Agoda explained that the layoffs were mainly due to operational efficiency goals and cost pressures during expanding lower-cost Customer Experience Group (CEG) operations in locations like India China and Egypt. The company stated the move would “consolidate customer support teams in areas where [Agoda has] the strongest operational flexibility and capability” to facilitate growth.  However affected employees claim the closure of departments was abrupt and lacked clarity and some alleged the roles existed mainly to fulfill local workforce quota requirements enabling Agoda to hire more foreign professionals under the S Pass scheme. Employees Accusations Against Agoda  Controversy surrounds the severance agreements offered to staff. According to documents reviewed by media outlets employees were instructed not to report their retrenchment to government agencies like Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) or trade unions like TAFEP.  If they breach this condition their severance benefits would be revoked. If any payout had already occurred employees could be compelled to repay the full amount and cover Agoda’s legal costs. This “gag” provision has led to backlash from unions and prompted investigation by MOM and other authorities who condemned the clauses as undermining fair employment practices.