Eventually, the firm decided that 300 employees had to go. To prepare to break the news to affected staff, Lee and her team roleplayed various scenarios. They even asked doctors at a nearby clinic to be on standby should any affected staff require medical attention.
From her role as a junior human resources (HR) executive, Lee Yan Hong saw how the Asian Financial Crisis impacted the financial industry in 1997 and 1998. A decade later, she would have a front-row seat at how the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) affected staff at a major US bank. “I was directly involved as the HR head in Singapore; it was one of the relatively large-sized employers in Singapore,” says Lee to The Edge Singapore.
After the bank’s leaders announced the year’s second round of job cuts, what was once the world’s largest bank by market value saw its market capitalisation plummet. Staff were concerned that the bank — and their jobs — were at risk.
