SINGAPORE – Major organisation shake-ups often bring uncertainty and anxiety – and Jetstar Asia’s sudden exit from Singapore is no exception.

With more than 500 Singapore-based employees retrenched following the airline’s announcement on June 11, attention has now turned to Singapore Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, which have offered a lifeline

to about 300 displaced former Jetstar employees

.

While these open positions – 100 for pilots and 200 for cabin crew – account for a relatively small portion of SIA and Scoot’s total staff strength of around 21,000 , experts said the integration of incoming staff still requires careful handling to preserve morale, productivity and workplace harmony.

Dr Sam Garg, professor of management at Essec Business School, said SIA Group’s move is more than opportunistic hiring.

“It reflects sector stewardship, ensuring Singapore retains critical aviation talent while providing displaced workers with continuity of employment,” said Dr Garg, who is based in his school’s Asia-Pacific campus in Singapore.

“The key is to treat this not just as recruitment, but as integration management.”

SIA Group is no stranger to absorbing displaced aviation professionals. 

In 2017, Tigerair’s 850 employees were absorbed into Scoot, resulting in a combined workforce of about 1,750, according to trade publication Human Resources Director Asia.

In 2018, SIA also announced integration efforts with its subsidiary SilkAir, and completed the merger in 2021.

About 600 SilkAir staff went through a conversion programme as part of SIA’s onboarding efforts, according to a 2021 article in SIA travel magazine SilverKris.

For the upcoming round of integration, an SIA spokesperson told The Straits Times that the company will also support the incoming staff from Jetstar to ensure a smooth transition.

Getting integration right is no easy feat, as tensions often arise due to differences over work practices and cultures between the existing and incoming teams.

This could lead to an “us versus them” mentality, noted some analysts.

To do things right, Dr Isaac Lim, founder of social science consultancy Anthro Insights, said it is important to pay attention to the emotional aspects of both the incoming staff, who may experience identity disruption and cultural adjustment stress, as well as the existing staff, who may have concerns over job security, promotion prospects and potential favouritism.

Company leaders must also ensure fair and equal treatment for all employees, said Dr Lim, who also teaches organisational behaviour at NUS Business School.

This means offering comparable career development opportunities and employment conditions for all employees, and being transparent about the role allocation, he added.

Some incoming workers may feel they are starting over, and may struggle to gain footing in a new culture, he said. In such cases, “symbolic gestures like personal welcomes from senior leadership” will help, Dr Lim said.

To ensure fairness, clarity and consistency across the organisation, Ms Cheng Wan Hua, director of talent analytics for South-east Asia at professional services firm Aon, suggested conducting a job mapping exercise to ensure new joiners at a certain job level are aligned to their pre-existing job level in terms of scope, complexity and impact.

She added that addressing the anxiety and discomfort experienced by incoming employees also requires a deliberate effort in building trust through transparency, empathy and open communication.

“Ensure that existing HR processes do not alienate employees as these have a direct impact on the employee’s perception of their professional growth in the organisation,” she said.

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Creating social opportunities via welcome parties is also important, Ms Cheng said, as these allow the existing and incoming staff to build informal social connections.

Mr Ong Pe Hon, the president of Scoot Staff Union, encouraged newly hired staff from Jetstar Asia to join the union.

“Our union leaders and members will play a part in supporting the integration through activities such as membership onboarding and engagement sessions,” he told ST, adding that the union will help foster a stronger sense of belonging.

For Dr Garg from Essec Business School, the key to successful integration depends on the employer respecting the heritage of incoming employees, designing a structured onboarding programme that emphasises shared values and culture, and maintaining open communication to reassure existing staff that they will not be replaced by new hires.

Handled well, integration efforts can bring diversity of experiences and strengthen industry resilience, said Dr Garg. “It may add new vigour and fresh eyes.” 

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Dr Lim from Anthro Insights also stressed the importance of having regular, consistent messaging that frames the integration as an investment in growth, and highlights benefits such as greater workforce diversity, expertise, and access to new fly routes.

But what is even more important is for the company’s leaders to actively monitor employee morale and take swift action to resolve tensions when they arise, he said.

Ms Cheng agreed that a “feedback loop” should exist to ensure timely correction of issues.

The onboarding and integration process should ideally take into account the employees’ emotional, social and professional well-being, she said.

That would help employees feel that “their needs are proactively met rather than (being) addressed as an afterthought”, she added.