THE last batch of YKK Singapore's factory employees were laid off last Thursday.
But there were no tears, only happy faces as the final 27 senior employees clutched their final paychecks.
The company, headquartered in Japan, decided to close its plant here to consolidate operations in Malaysia and Pakistan, said YKK Singapore managing director Sakato Nagasaki.
This ends four decades of the zipper company's manufacturing presence in Singapore.
It has retrenched 123 workers since last year.
Although many long-serving employees were sad to go, they were pleased with their retrenchment benefits.
They were laid off in batches starting last year.
The employees, many of whom were union members, are believed to have each received a month's pay for every year of service, up to a maximum of 25 months.
The final batch of senior employees, including supervisors, section chiefs, senior technicians and assistant engineers, remained till the end to make sure that everything was cleared out.
One of them, a man in his 50s who declined to be named, said of his golden handshake: 'Most of us are very satisfied.'
He said the senior employees like him were awarded the same compensation as the lower-level employees. They also received an extra month's bonus.
Having worked there for more than 25 years, he said he was happy with his payout, and the money would supplement his retirement savings.
'I'll probably take it easy for a while,' he added.
In an email interview, Mr Nagasaki said the company ceased its manufacturing arm on 1 Aug, and completed the winding-down process on Thursday.
He did not give exact details but said the company 'prepared a reasonable and fair termination package based on YKK Singapore's employment policies to (its) dedicated staff'.
He said the management informed the union of its decision and complied with the Collective Agreement.
'We believe that we did an amicable separation with our all employees so far,' said Mr Nagasaki, who also heads the Malaysian operations.
The employee who spoke to The New Paper said that they first heard of the probable closure about two years ago.
'I guess we had time to prepare ourselves, so we were not so hard hit when we knew for sure,' said the man.
Sad to go
At its peak about four years ago, the company had about 240 employees, he said.
'The operators and store workers were the first to be retrenched,' the man said.
They were sad to go, as many of them had worked there for years.
'There was little job-hopping. Some of the operators had worked there for almost 30 years, and earned more than $2,000 a month,' he added.
The employee said that when he started working at the company, there was minimal automation and 'everything was done by hand'.
He said the company had treated them well all these years.
It gave them yearly bonuses and increments, overseas trips every other year, organised an annual dinner-and-dance, and provided subsidised food in the canteen, he said.
'Even today, a cup of coffee costs only 30 cents,' he said.
He said that he and his colleagues met Mr Nagasaki where he explained why the move was necessary.
'The MD used a lot of market terms, and talked about global factors and the economy,' said the man.
'Although he didn't say it, it's quite obvious that it had to do with the high costs. It's the main problem facing many companies here. But we don't blame the company.'
A senior employee, who had worked there for more than 10 years, said he had found another job.
Another, who had been there for more than 15 years, in his first and only job, said: 'Whether we like it or not, we have to go.'
Last week, YKK's factory at Joo Yee Road in Jurong Town was quiet except for the few remaining employees.
Signs on the premises indicated that the property is for sale.
But YKK will still have a presence in Singapore as YKK Malaysia has set up a sales branch office here.
Said Mr Nagasaki: 'We retained 10 employees in the sales and marketing department to manage new and existing customers in Singapore.'
YKK Corporation has 119 offices and factories in 70 countries.
This article was first published in The New Paper on September 29, 2008.
