Not great for morale: What it means when workers are told to reapply for their jobs
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 26 Feb 2025
Author: Sharon Salim
Requiring employees to reapply for jobs means they must formally demonstrate their capabilities and undergo the hiring process again or risk losing their role.
When Ms Teo was told a few years ago that she could reapply for her current role if and when it opened up – or be redeployed to another department – the situation created a lot of anxiety.
There was also speculation of layoffs, she recalled, and Ms Teo was told her team would move to a new department under a new boss due to different business units being merged.
Ms Teo, who works in the tech industry, was eventually redeployed to another position.
“I was unsure of the longevity of my new role as I did not possess the necessary skills to excel in that role,” said Ms Teo, who wanted to be known only by her surname.
She later found out that the company already had a candidate in mind for her old role.
She started applying for a new job and found one not long after.
Ms Teo and her former colleagues are not the only ones who have experienced this.
Most recently, large companies like British bank HSBC and broadcaster BBC told staff to reapply for jobs as part of restructuring efforts to trim their workforces.
The reapplication process at HSBC reportedly involves pitting senior staff from the commercial banking division against those from the global banking and markets unit to compete for the jobs available in a newly formed combined division.
Food delivery platform foodpanda, which is headquartered in Singapore, had asked some staff to reapply for their jobs in November 2024, The Straits Times has learnt.
The move affected at least two people from the customer experience team.
When asked, a foodpanda spokesperson said the company “introduced changes” to improve its service for customers and partners.
“As a result of this effort, we have created more than 400 new roles in the organisation. For the employees affected by these changes, we continue to provide comprehensive care and support, and are committed to meeting all legal obligations,” said the spokesperson, adding that affected employees refer to those who were let go or had their job scopes changed.
Current job listings for foodpanda on LinkedIn include a full-time position for head of growth and marketing in Singapore, and content-related contract roles in Kuala Lumpur.
It is not clear how many employees had been asked to reapply for their jobs, and how many had been let go or redeployed internally as a result of the exercise.
What it means for companies and workers
When a firm requires employees to reapply for their existing jobs, this reflects a significant shift in the organisation that is typically triggered by business transformation.
“Such a practice signals that the organisation is critically evaluating its talent structure, job roles and operational effectiveness,” said Ms Li Fengling, a senior professional at the Institute for Human Resource Professionals.
Experts told ST this means employees must formally demonstrate their capabilities and undergo the hiring process again – including interviews and assessments – or risk losing their role.
Ms Divya Durai, a senior associate at law firm Regal Law LLC, said this approach is commonly employed during:
- mergers and acquisitions where structural changes occur;
- downsizing or restructuring as a company re-evaluates staffing needs;
- periods of layoffs where a reduction in workforce is anticipated.
Seen as an internal hiring process, this often creates an environment where current employees “compete against each other” for limited job openings, she said.
Ms Jaya Dass, Asia-Pacific managing director at recruitment firm Randstad Enterprise, noted: “In Australia, this is very common. However, the terminology for this is not an interview for the same job, it’s called redeployment.”
The important part is the difference between the current role and the new role, she said.
“Instead of taking a worker from point A and putting him in point B, a company can reassess the employee’s skills, and if he does not have the skills they are looking for, they can ask others in the market to interview for the role.”
The employee is also allowed to interview for the role as there is no discrimination, she added.
Ms Dass attributed this occurrence to companies being more inclined to have a fluid workforce by choosing not to hire permanently or hiring a greater contracting employment workforce.
According to Randstad Enterprise’s 2025 Talent Trends Report, which surveyed 1,060 C-suite and talent leaders in 21 markets globally, 46 per cent said creating a more fluid and flexible workforce is a top priority.
“What is happening to companies at this point is that they are taking a duality. They are letting go of people because they have to reinvest in different types of jobs. The technology landscape is changing... At the same time, they are also looking at what is required for the next three to five years.”
‘A risk of feeling rejected’
Observers told ST that requiring employees to reapply for their jobs can incite feelings of insecurity, tension and stress. Employee morale and engagement will often take a hit, leading to a high turnover rate and a talent drain.
“There is a risk of feeling rejected, even if they ultimately retain their positions. The possibility of being deemed unqualified or unwanted by the organisation can lead to profound feelings of resentment and disappointment,” said Ms Durai.
“This sense of uncertainty can quickly permeate other areas of the organisation, spreading unease among the workforce,” she added.
Ms Teo, who is in her 30s, said she knew of former colleagues who had gone through the same exercise multiple times in the span of a few years.
“It was just not great for employee morale. We would have preferred to be made redundant and paid out with much more transparent messaging than having to go through round after round of interviews for a job that we would already have been doing,” she said.
An IT services professional, who wanted to be known only as Ben, said it is an undesirable process as it sounds like a potential method to bypass a retrenchment package.
While he has not been asked to reapply for a job before, he would prefer a clean break with the company. “But I would prefer to have a conversation with the team or a manager, to see if a consensus can be reached,” he said.
Possible outcomes from the reapplication exercise
An employee who is unsuccessful in reapplying for his current position could be retrenched or redeployed to another internal role. He could be offered career transition support or provided with a severance package, too.
While severance packages are not mandated by law in Singapore, companies are allowed to decide how generous they want to be and do not have to take a universal approach, said Ms Dass.
Ms Li said: “Successful execution (by the employer) requires clear communication, fair evaluation criteria, empathetic leadership, robust support mechanisms and a genuine commitment to employee well-being throughout the transition.”
Ms Dass said companies can offer outplacement support, which may entail providing the affected employee with a career coach, resume support, and a structured programme to talk through the psychological change.
Ms Durai pointed out that, while the strategy is generally regarded as a “contentious” and “often inadvisable” one, the reapplication process does offer certain advantages for the company, such as having a standardised selection process that sieves out favouritism or biases.
It also provides an opportunity for organisations to identify their most qualified and committed employees, she said, filtering out employees who may lack dedication to or enthusiasm for their work.
“In some cases, it may become apparent that the organisation can function effectively with a reduced workforce, potentially lowering costs and improving profitability over time,” she said.
Should workers reapply or quit?
Ms Dass said that while the approach can be a challenging process for some workers, it could be an opportunity for them to get a new lease of life.
She cited an IT professional who embarked on a passion project involving palliative care for cancer patients when he was laid off. He was on the job for about 25 years, and did not enjoy the better part of it.
“Others might say, ‘Actually, I have been thinking about going part-time or changing the type of job I want to be in’,” she said.
She noted that if workers are given the chance to be interviewed for their current job, they are in a good position to land the post as they know what it involves.
“It’s also good training to get out of that bitterness, because it does not help,” said Ms Dass, adding that sometimes, the management and human resources teams conducting the redundancy exercise are equally vulnerable.
Ms Durai said workers are typically under “no explicit contractual obligation” to reapply for their jobs unless the employment contract specifically outlines such a requirement. But refusing to participate in the process may have consequences, such as being laid off, she said.
Added Ms Durai: “In cases where an employee refuses to comply and is subsequently dismissed, they may consider filing a claim for unfair dismissal.
“The success of such a claim often depends on the specifics of the employment contract and whether the company has followed fair and legal processes.”
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
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