H&M shifts Southeast Asia HQ from Singapore to KL, cuts about 30% of regional staff

H&M is cutting about 30 per cent of its regional staff and is also moving its Southeast Asia headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian media reports said.

This was announced in a formal communication to its staff on Monday (May 11).

The major restructuring of the world's second-largest fashion retailer's Asia Pacific operations will see the majority of redundancies in the Singapore office — about 80 out of the regional headcount of 256.

H&M will help affected staff find new roles within the company, and they will be informed of the final outcomes no later than mid-June following interviews and evaluations.

The new changes are expected to be operational by July 1, the report said.

For those unable to be redeployed, H&M will propose mutual separation agreements.

The decision to shift headquarters is part of a broader evolution of  the company's operating model and regrouping regions.

The newly formed Continent Asia Pacific will be based in Shanghai overseeing five sales markets while the Northeast Asia sales market will relocate to Tokyo.

AsiaOne has reached out to H&M for comments.

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helmy.saat@asiaone.com