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SINGAPORE – Home-grown electronics firm Creative Technology has retrenched about 40 staff, or 14 per cent of its workforce, as the tech layoff wave continues its rampage, The Straits Times has learnt. Confirming the layoffs, a company spokesman said: “Creative Technology has undertaken a decision to restructure parts of its business to adapt to the evolving market conditions. As part of this transformation, it had to undergo a staff retrenchment exercise.” The spokesman, however, declined to confirm the number of affected staff, and whether they are all located in Singapore.   According to its corporate website, Creative has more than 280 employees worldwide – a fraction of the size of the company’s workforce during the boom years of the 2000s. ST understands that the restructuring affected several departments, including sales and marketing. “This decision was not taken lightly as our employees have been the heart of our company, and we deeply appreciate the hard work, dedication and passion they have brought to our organisation,” said the spokesman. He added that the firm would support affected staff through the exercise, which was conducted in line with the Manpower Ministry’s guidelines.   “We believe this restructuring will allow us to build a stronger, more sustainable future; one that ensures long-term success for our company, our employees and the customers we serve. We are committed to working to get Creative back on a sustainable trajectory ahead,” he said.   For the first six months of its fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2024, Creative’s net loss widened to US$6.1 million (S$8.1 million) from US$4.1 million in the year-ago period. This was despite higher net sales of US$37.4 million, a rise of 18 per cent from US$31.8 million in the year-ago period, from selling new audio products, including the Super X-Fi earbuds and headphones. The group had warned that uncertainty over the import tariffs announced by the Trump administration in the US, as well as potential retaliatory measures from the affected countries, could increase inflationary pressures and affect consumer demand.   Creative’s retrenchment follows a global tech trend, which started in 2022. According to figures from Layoffs.fyi, which tracks layoffs in the technology industry, hundreds of thousands of employees in tech firms have been given the pink slip since 2022. In 2024, 548 tech firms terminated the services of more than 150,000 employees. In the first two months of 2025 alone, more than 13,300 people globally lost their jobs. Those affected include employees at Meta, TikTok, Dyson, Microsoft and Google, some of whom were based in Singapore. Mr Faiz Modak, associate director of tech and transformation at Robert Walters Singapore, said that tech jobs, in particular, are more affected than jobs in other sectors as there was overhiring during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The global geopolitical situation, wars in the Middle East and Europe, and tariff wars are contributing to this lower confidence in the markets, which has resulted in a cautious approach to investment and growth,” he said. Dr David Leong, chief executive of human resources consulting firm PeopleWorldwide, concurred. “Factors such as market corrections, technological innovations, increased competition and evolving skill requirements are collectively influencing employment trends,” he said, adding that hiring and firing are expected to be more frequent in today’s fluid environment. While the tech industry’s layoffs are indicative of broader structural changes, Dr Leong said that Creative’s struggle could also be unique due to its diminished market presence over the decades. In a Feb 28 bourse filing, Creative said it was on a global hunt for a “dynamic and visionary” replacement for its CEO Song Siow Hui, who retired in February after more than three decades with the company. Executive chairman Tan Jok Tin is the interim CEO. Mr Song’s appointment came after the unexpected death in January 2023 of former Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo, one of Singapore’s most famous technology entrepreneurs. Under Mr Sim, who founded the firm in 1981, Creative grew substantially in the 1990s and put Singapore on the world map with its wildly popular Sound Blaster card, launched in 1989. The product was a game changer in allowing multimedia content to come alive on a personal computer. It was outselling competitors by a ratio of seven to three through the 1990s due to its affordability and quality. More than 400 million units of the product have been sold since. Creative became the first Singapore company to list shares on the Nasdaq in 1992.  It is also the first Singapore firm to wage war with Apple over portable music players. Creative had launched its Nomad MP3 player in 1999, two years before Apple unveiled the iPod.  This invention would soon change the way people consumed music on the go, pioneering the way thousands of pieces of music could be offered on a handheld device without the user having to fumble with physical media like CDs and cassette tapes.  In 2006, Creative sued Apple for patent infringements, and walked away with a US$100 million settlement.  Creative also rolled out other music players such as the Nomad Jukebox Zen, which doubled as a portable storage device for other media such as photos and videos. However, its products ultimately lost out as Apple’s music player gained popularity.

An SMRT bus was caught on video running a red light at Bukit Batok West Avenue 5. A Stomper shared footage taken from his dashcam of the incident that happened on March 13 at 7.34am. The footage shows a service 991 bus running the red light just before pedestrians are about to cross the road. "The pedestrians were talking to each other and gesturing about the bus running the red light," said the Stomper. "Subsequently, the bus went straight on a left-turn-only lane."   In response to a Stomp query, SMRT Buses' deputy managing director Mr Vincent Gay said: "The safety of our commuters and road users is our top priority. "We have investigated the incident and will be taking disciplinary action against the bus captain involved. "Our bus captains undergo regular training and are consistently reminded to adhere to all safety protocols and road regulations."

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean boy died in hospital on March 17 after a car accident in Johor involving a lorry whose driver has tested positive for methamphetamine, said the police in Johor. The seven-year-old boy was thrown out of the car he was in after a collision with the lorry at around 10.30pm on March 16, said the police. The Malaysia-registered lorry and the Singapore-registered car collided in Jalan Pantai heading towards Permas Jaya, the police added. The lorry driver, 57, who is suspected to have lost control of his vehicle and went into the opposite lane, was travelling towards the Johor Bahru city centre, with the car coming from the opposite direction. The boy was one of four passengers in the car driven by his father, who is in his 40s. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around 3am on March 17. His mother, another child aged two and an Indonesian woman, believed to be the family’s helper, were the other passengers. The car passengers were injured to varying degrees, with the driver and a passenger still receiving treatment while the others suffered minor injuries, the police said. In photos shared by the police, the right side of the car is seen heavily dented, with the side windows appearing to be completely damaged. The Malaysian lorry driver returned a urine test that was positive for methamphetamine and is assisting with investigations for driving under the influence of drugs as well as causing death while driving under the influence and without a proper licence.    

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