Indonesian healthtech startup Alodokter said it has resolved a dispute with laid-off staff while its Singapore-based counterpart Doctor Anywhere is reducing its workforce in the city-state and Southeast Asia.
Alodokter resolves dispute with dismissed employees
Indonesian digital health platform Alodokter said it has resolved a dispute with former employees who protested over severance packages, TechinAsia has reported.
The laid-off employees staged a protest last week, alleging that severance packages fell short of legal standards. One terminated employee said the company had let go of 12 staff members, nine of whom challenged the settlement.
Alodokter, backed by SoftBank, however, said the layoffs and associated benefits were in line with Indonesian labour laws.
Alodokter was created in 2014 by Nathanael Faibis and Suci Arumsari to provide an end-to-end digital solution to patients, including telemedicine, doctor booking, medical content, e-pharmacy, and health insurance services. The company is considered one of the pioneers of Indonesian telemedicine.
The startup last raised $5.22 million in February from Korean automobile parts producer HL Mando and Beacon Venture Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Thailand’s Kasikornbank.
Healthcare startup Doctor Anywhere reducing workforce
Singapore-based healthcare startup Doctor Anywhere is laying off dozens of employees across Singapore and Southeast Asia, according to a report by The Business Times.
The layoffs, announced by founder and CEO Lim Wai Mun in a company-wide email earlier this month, are believed to impact 8.1% of its workforce.
The move comes less than two years after the company announced plans in January 2022 to expand its Singapore workforce by hiring over 200 additional staff, growing from its then 450 employees.
Founded in 2017, the healthcare provider integrates both digital and offline services. The offline Doctor Anywhere clinics and doctors can be located using the online platform.
The layoffs also come as the company posted S$43.5 million ($33.25 million) in losses last year, a tad lower than the S$44.6 million ($34.09 million) in after-tax losses it reported in 2022, according to its filings with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
