Singapore's GovTech agency will fire up to nine percent [1] of its 3,900-person [1] workforce as part of a two-year transformation exercise [1].
This restructuring signals a fundamental change in how the Singapore government manages its digital infrastructure. By moving away from a project-delivery model, the agency aims to prioritize long-term product ownership to improve the sustainability of government tech services.
GovTech will fire 93 staff [1] during the first phase of the process. The agency said that the move is intended to realign its internal capabilities to better support the government's evolving digital needs.
GovTech Chairman Chng Kai Fong addressed the nature of the layoffs to clarify that the cuts are not a result of budget constraints or the rise of automation. "The move is not driven by artificial intelligence, nor is it a cost‑cutting or downsizing exercise," Chng said [1].
The agency's current workforce consists of 3,900 [1] employees. Under the new two-year [1] plan, the agency will shift its focus from completing specific projects to a model of continuous product ownership, a strategy designed to ensure that digital tools evolve alongside user needs rather than being treated as one-time deliveries.
While the first phase affects 93 [1] people, the total reduction could eventually reach nine percent [1] of the total staff. The agency has not specified the exact timeline for the subsequent phases of the layoffs beyond the overall two-year window [1].
“GovTech will fire up to 9% of its 3,900-person workforce.”
This shift reflects a broader trend in software engineering where organizations move from 'project' thinking — which prioritizes deadlines and hand-offs — to 'product' thinking, which emphasizes long-term lifecycle management and iterative improvement. By explicitly denying that AI is the driver, GovTech is attempting to decouple this workforce reduction from the global trend of AI-driven job displacement, framing it instead as a strategic organizational pivot.
