PETALING JAYA, March 27 — Uber Malaysia administrative employees were told to collect their belongings and vacate their Kuala Lumpur and Selangor offices yesterday, according to Uber driver Azliza Ali Shamsuddin.
Azliza said the employees were given only two hours to do so, following an abrupt notice issued in the morning after the official merger of Uber and Grab yesterday.
“The admin boys told me they were given only two hours to clear their stuff and vacate their premises at Greenlight Hub and their office in Bangsar. It was all so sudden,” she told Malay Mail.
Uber Malaysia’s headquarters is located in Bangsar South with the Greenlight Hub meant to serve as the base for their driving partners.
Azliza said rumours of Uber’s buyout had been rampant in recent weeks leading up to the merger with Grab, but claimed no official information was given out.
“Uber even did their celebration for the International Women’s day last Friday at the Greenlight Hub. We assumed everything was going fine.
“Those who I have been in contact with said they were left jobless by the move,” she added.
Azliza also said that when the Greenlight Hub was launched on March 14, Uber Malaysia employees had cited its investment in the Petaling Jaya facility in refuting speculations of the potential buyout.
She said Uber Malaysia drivers were only given notice about a change in terms and agreement at 7pm yesterday.
“We are nervous on how well could they integrate Uber drivers in their system. Especially drivers who are blacklisted by Grab before as they are not sure if they can drive under the platform,” she said.
Malay Mail could not reach Uber Malaysia for comment and were told to leave its headquarters in Bangsar South during a visit today.
About 100 Uber Singapore employees were also similarly given two hours to vacate their office in the republic yesterday, TODAY reported.
The Singaporean news portal cited an affected employee who worked as a telesales specialist saying staff were told to pack up within two hours and leave the company’s office at Mapletree Anson in Tanjong Pagar by 12.30pm.
But Grab later clarified the employees were on paid leave. Its head of people in Singapore Ong Chin Yin posted on professional networking platform LinkedIn that it would be having a town hall on Tuesday afternoon with its co-founders.
Singapore-based Grab, founded by Malaysian Anthony Tan, 36, and his Harvard University classmate Tan Hooi Ling, officially acquired Uber’s South-east Asian operations yesterday.
*Editor’s note: An earlier version misstated Uber Malaysia’s headquarters as located at the Greenlight Hub in Section 51A, Petaling Jaya instead of Bangsar South. Malay Mail regrets the mistake, which has since been corrected.
