SINGAPORE, May 13 – H&M has announced a major restructuring of its Asia-Pacific operations, relocating its South-east Asia regional headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and eliminating approximately 30 per cent of its regional support workforce.
The changes, formally communicated to staff on May 11 will see the majority of redundancies take place in the Singapore office. Out of a regional headcount of 256 for the former East Asia region, 78 positions will be removed.
The restructuring is part of a broader evolution of H&M’s commercial operating model, which replaces existing regional layers with four new continents. Under the new structure, the newly formed Continent Asia Pacific (APAC) will be based in Shanghai and will oversee five sales markets.
As a result, the head office for the South-east Asia sales market will be located in Kuala Lumpur, while the Northeast Asia sales market will relocate to Tokyo. The APAC continent portfolio also includes India (hub in Bangalore), Australia & New Zealand (Sydney hub), and Greater China, which will share the Shanghai hub with the continent headquarters.
Staff will undergo a calibration process by May 21, 2026. Employees are required to complete an assessment survey nominating two priority roles, with placement decisions based on 2025 contribution ratings and recent disciplinary records instead of standard CV submissions.
Interviews and evaluations are scheduled between May 25 and June 19. Management has stated that employees will be informed of their final outcomes no later than mid-June. The consolidated structure and staff relocations are expected to be operational by July 1.
For employees whose roles are eliminated or reduced, mutual separation agreements will be proposed if an alternative position cannot be found within the new organisation. Specific details regarding separation packages will be communicated at a later date.
Internal records indicate that H&M implements similar regionalisation or structural changes on approximately an annual basis. While support functions in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City are being offshored, and offices in Seoul and Manila are being downsized, the company has stated that all store-level operations and retail teams remain unaffected.
The broader restructuring plan was initially referenced during an internal briefing on April 16, 2026.