A closer look into the layoffs at Oriente and Endowus

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Hi there,

As an Indonesia-based journalist, I find it challenging to keep track of all the online lending companies operating in the country. As part of my routine research, I recently came across an unfamiliar name that caught my attention: Finmas.

Little did I know this local firm is connected to the troubled Hong Kong-headquartered Oriente, which my colleague Melissa reports on in this week’s Big Story. In 2019, Oriente and Jakarta-based conglomerate Sinar Mas launched Finmas, which then became one of the most downloaded personal loans apps under the finance category in Indonesia.

Oriente was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it retrenched over 20% of its staff between late 2019 and early 2020.

As it now faces difficulties in raising funds, Oriente reduced its headcount again. Finmas slashed jobs in December 2022 while Oriente’s Vietnam unit closed down several months earlier.

Affected employees in Vietnam are still owed their salaries and severance pay. While the company told them that it would explore options to secure funding, their ability to recover withheld salaries remains in question.

Speaking of layoffs, Singapore-based Endowus recently trimmed its workforce as well. In this week’s Hot Take, I take a look at the firm’s job cuts and what it means for the wealthtech industry as a whole.

— Budi

THE BIG STORY

Oriente staff decry abrupt dismissal, unpaid salaries as Vietnam and Indonesia shutter

Image credit: Timmy Loen

The fintech firm, whose CEO left last year, has struggled to bounce back after its offline lending business was hit hard by the pandemic.

THE HOT TAKE

What Endowus’ layoffs mean for Southeast Asia’s wealthtech industry

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