‘I felt betrayed’: Mother retrenched 3 weeks after returning from maternity leave, workers share trauma of layoffs
Three weeks after she returned from maternity leave to a job she had been working at for four years, Rebecca (not her real name) was informed that she would be let go.
The 31-year-old had arrived at work, expecting another normal day — but was informed that there would be layoffs in the team.
An hour later, she found herself in a meeting with her manager, where she was given two weeks’ notice and a day off to process her newfound unemployment.
Speaking to Stomp, Rebecca said she felt “heartbroken” and “betrayed” by the decision, having gone through major personal milestones while working there. She had gotten engaged, married, had a child and bought a house in the time she was with the company.
The timing of the retrenchment also made her wonder if it was a “prejudiced decision”, although she later realised that fellow new mothers often shared similar experiences.
“I was overwhelmed because I was suddenly financially unstable,” she said. She quickly realised she would have to depend on her savings to get by and pay for home renovations.
A growing number of retrenchments
Rebecca was among many who were hit by retrenchment exercises over the years.
In 2026, retrenchments rose to 4,500 from April to June, up from 3,830 in the January to March period. The number hit a new high since the last quarter of 2020.
E-commerce giant Amazon announced on May 7 that it would be cutting roles in Singapore, while Shopee announced a month later that it would axe about 8 per cent of its developer roles.
Lazada followed suit on June 23, announcing a retrenchment of 5 per cent of its South-east Asia workforce.
In mid-July, the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) laid off 93 staff — 42 per cent of whom are in their 40s.
Most recently, CapitaLand Investment announced it has retrenched 90 Singapore staff this year as part of a restructuring exercise.
Dealing with the trauma
But what happens after the layoff?
Rebecca said that although the retrenchment gave her a much-needed break, she still found the process “traumatising”.
She applied for about 60 jobs a week for three months straight, while grappling with “decision paralysis” and the fear of being laid off again.
“There was a little voice in my head that kept telling me I was not good enough at my job even though my bosses did not mention my work ethics as the reason,” Rebecca added.
During interviews with potential employers, a career guidance counsellor advised her to keep the retrenchment “vague or discreet”, citing the “underlying prejudice” surrounding layoffs.
When she was upfront about being retrenched, she noticed that she wouldn’t get call backs.
Grappling with ‘perceived shame’ when laid off
For another employee, however, being open about the circumstances of his retrenchment had the opposite effect.
Dion (not his real name), who is in the advertising industry, went through a similar situation. Just nine months after he joined an ad agency, his entire team was “made redundant”.
During his unemployment, Dion grappled with the anxiety over probing questions from people around him — which sparked a “perceived shame” around the topic.
However, for Dion, being upfront about the reasons for his retrenchment worked in his favour, and even secured several interviews with potential employers.
Employers look at resume gap instead of retrenchment: Experts
Are employers really that sensitive toward a person’s employment status in the job hiring process?
Some experts beg to differ, suggesting that perceptions surrounding retrenchment have shifted substantially in recent years — and in candidates’ favour.
Veteran legal recruiter Linus Choo felt that retrenchment is “not a red flag in hiring”, as employees may be thrust into the situation because of “business-driven restructuring rather than individual performance”.
In the legal industry, such situations are common enough that hiring managers may even treat them as “background noise”.
“What some actually scrutinise is the gap narrative,” said Choo, a managing director at regional executive search firm Ethos BeathChapman.
“A candidate who was retrenched six months ago, and has been passive since, raises more questions than one who was retrenched and immediately networked, took on advisory work or interim contracting work, or upskilled.”
Should applicants be honest about retrenchment?
As for whether employees should disclose how they left their previous jobs, Choo recommended being upfront if they were retrenched.
“And do it with confidence, not apology,” he added.
The tight-knit nature of some industries means hiring managers would be able to fact-check an applicant’s prior conduct and performance, he said.
“Getting caught with an omission of truth is categorically worse than the retrenchment itself,” Choo explained.
Jeffrey, a former human resource manager in the manufacturing industry, agreed: “In Singapore, if you want, you can ask around. It’s small enough, no matter what a person wants to hide.”
Founder of layoffsg.com, a crowdsourced retrenchment tracker focused on the Singapore market, Adrian Tan, agreed.
According to him, the two easiest career transitions to explain are being headhunted or retrenched.
“If I’m a candidate, I’d rather use retrenchment as the reason,” he told Stomp.
Hiring manager hit with retrenchment
Even hiring managers are not spared from retrenchment — 47-year-old Jeffrey said he was let go after working as a HR manager at a chemical manufacturing plant for over a year.
Despite a new project set to begin in January 2026, the company folded just a month prior due to poor business performance, axing 80 out of 90 employees.
When the news broke, he recalled witnessing engineers scrambling to contact workers at construction sites, saying: “You’re building a scaffold? Stop building! The company is done for!”
As he grappled with the consequences of his own retrenchment, he was also tasked with helping employees through the process — something he described as a conflicting experience.
“You know, there’s a job to be done. But what does this mean for me? Because finding jobs is not easy. It’s definitely sian, very painful,” he recalled.
However, all is not lost. Experts recommended being forthcoming about being retrenched, as it could help activate one’s network for recommendations to potential employers.
Choo also suggested checking retrenchment benefits and seeking mediation through the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) if employers have not offered it.
Getting back on their feet
Both Rebecca and Dion found jobs within months of the retrenchment.
Even if memories of the experience continue to affect her in her new role, Rebecca says a supportive work environment helps tide her through difficult days.
“(Even) when I submit work now, I’m always thinking ‘that’s not the best you could’ve done’, ‘you’re going to get retrenched or terminated’,” she reflected.
“But then I get praised for my work and the voice in my head fades away,” she said, adding that she now “comes to work happy”.
“It’s never personal, don’t belittle your work ethic or feel bad. Just be grateful the universe gave you a different direction to head to in your life,” she added.
“It’s probably for the best.”
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