PUBLISHED ONSeptember 30, 2026 1:45 AMUPDATEDOctober 05, 2026 6:21 AMBYLaili AbdeenBitsmedia, the company behind global lifestyle app Muslim Pro, has reportedly retrenched 21 employees, including 17 based in Singapore, as part of a restructuring exercise.
Affected employees were informed of the layoffs on Aug 31 and had their employment terminated on the same day.
The retrenchment exercise also affected employees from Bitsmedia's Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh offices, but most of those affected were based at its Singapore headquarters.
AsiaOne understands that 14 Singaporeans were affected in the exercise which primarily involved the content, marketing, product and business development teams.
The employees affected had served the company for varying periods, ranging from about six months to more than five years.
Bitsmedia said in its retrenchment notice, signed off by co-CEO Muhammad Syakir Bin Hashim, that it was implementing cost-saving measures and reducing its workforce as part of a "restructuring exercise to align the company’s goals and objectives with its long-term strategic plans".
Checks by AsiaOne show that Bitsmedia has between 11 and 50 employees, according to its LinkedIn page.
Affected employees shared their concerns about how the retrenchment was handled, saying it lacked empathy.
AsiaOne understands that employees were told to come to the office on Aug 31 without knowing a retrenchment exercise was about to take place.
Affected individuals were then alerted by the Human Resource team to enter a meeting room. They emerged one after another having lost their jobs.
"As employees gradually realised what was happening, the atmosphere across the office changed completely. Colleagues were visibly distressed," said one former employee, who requested anonymity.
The former employee added: "People were crying."
Affected employees were told that their positions had been made redundant and were presented with retrenchment documentation.
"There was almost no opportunity to absorb what had just happened."
In a letter seen by AsiaOne, former employees alleged that for some staff, the entire process from being informed of the retrenchment to leaving the office took around 15 minutes.
"We recognise that a company has legitimate information-security reasons for terminating access and recovering its equipment. Our concern is not that Bitsmedia took those steps," said the former employees in the letter.
Rather, they explained that they took issue with how the retrenchment exercise was carried out, "with seemingly little space for dignity, privacy or even the basic human need to process what had happened".
"For some of us, the most painful part was not simply being told that our roles were redundant. It was the feeling that years of contribution, trust, relationships and service could be dismantled within approximately 15 minutes," a former employee wrote.
Affected employees were provided with a retrenchment benefit equivalent to two weeks' salary regardless of their length of service, which left some questioning why long-serving employees received the same amount as colleagues who had been with the company for a much shorter period.
Former employees also wondered why the payment also varied from the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) prevailing Tripartite norm for eligible employees, which was two weeks to one month's salary per year of service.
MOM's responsible-retrenchment guidance also states that employers must pay all salaries, including unused annual leave and notice pay, on employees' last day of work.
However, the payment in lieu of notice was credited to the former employees on Sept 8.
The retrenched staff also alleged that their former colleagues had to "absorb work previously performed by specialist colleagues" and "external partners dealing with affected employees were left seeking clarity about ongoing matters and projects".
Bitsmedia's managing director and CEO, Nafees Khundker, confirmed the job cuts to Tech in Asia.
“The restructuring reflected those priorities, and a broader effort to simplify how the company operates,” Khundker told Tech in Asia.
He added: “AI was not a factor in the decision.”
Khundker declined to disclose the exact layoff figures but reportedly said that the company has no plans for further restructuring at the moment.
Founded in 2009, Bitsmedia created Muslim Pro to help Muslims across 190 countries track prayer times, find the direction of the Kaabah for prayers and access the Quran online in various languages.
According to its website, Muslim Pro was created in 2010 and has over 190 million downloads globally.
The company also launched Qalbox, a video streaming service within Muslim Pro in 2022 and added other features including an AI-powered Islamic chatbot called Ask AiDeen.
In 2023, Bitsmedia reportedly raised US$20 million (S$25.5 million) led by Gobi Partners alongside CMIA Capital Partners and Bintang Capital Partners.
AsiaOne has contacted Bitsmedia for comment.
In response to AsiaOne's queries, NTUC said that Bitsmedia Pte. Ltd. is not a unionised company, but it had workers who are members of Tech Talent Assembly (TTAB), an NTUC-affiliated association.
TTAB told AsiaOne that it understands that affected employees were informed of the retrenchment exercise only on the day it was carried out.
"TTAB strongly encourages employers conducting retrenchment or workforce adjustments to do so responsibly and fairly, including engaging employees early where possible and ensuring they are treated with dignity and respect throughout the process," wrote the association in a statement on Oct 1.
It added that early engagement enables NTUC’s affiliated unions and associations to step in earlier and provide affected employees with support.
The Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment also encouraged employers to provide provide retrenchment benefits and support that factor in the impact on affected employees and their families where retrenchments are unavoidable.
"TTAB is proactively reaching out to their members to offer support, including career guidance and job-matching assistance," wrote the association, adding that affected union members or workers who wish to join TTAB can reach out to TTAB via email at ttab@ntuc.org.sg for assistance.
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