SINGAPORE : Singapore General Hospital and KK Women's and
Children's Hospital have retrenched 108 general maintenance staff
from their Facilities Plant Engineering Department.
The department will be outsourced to Keppel Facilities and
Management Operations (Keppel FMO) from July 1.
The staff, who perform operational suppport work such as
air-conditioning maintenance and furniture dismantling, were
informed of the retrenchments in March this year.
A total of 82 from SGH and 26 from KKH were affected.
They will receive compensation of one month's base salary for each
year of service.
They will also receive extended medical coverage and training
grants if they remain jobless for the next 12 months.
In a joint statement, the two hospitals said the rationale behind
the retrenchments was long-term cost-effectiveness.
They said outsourcing daily maintenance services to a vendor was
expected to save them more than 20 percent of total annual
operating costs.
The retrenched were offered jobs by Keppel Facilities and
Management Operations, and 70 percent of them have taken up the
offer. - CNA/de