Lazada officially opens hybrid-friendly headquarters in Singapore

Along with the opening, Chun Li, Chief Executive Officer, also announced the launch of Lazada Foundation which aims to award scholarships and provide growth opportunities to empower women and youths in Southeast Asia.

Lazada has officially launched its regional headquarters and Singapore office, Lazada One on 11 April 2022 (Monday), in an event attended by Human Resources Online. 

With this brand-new HQ, the group is looking to further grow the region’s digital commerce ecosystem, bolstering livelihoods that are already thriving in the booming sector.

Located in the Bras Basah district, Singapore, the 109,000 sq ft office space is designed with considerations for the future hybrid workplace in mind, and focuses on facilitating collaboration both within the building and across its offices in the region.

Each floor has its own unique inspiration — from the homely and recognisable HDB-themed decor, to a more classic black and white old-school look.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chun Li, Chief Executive Officer, Lazada Group, said: “Lazada celebrates our 10^th anniversary this year, an important milestone for the company and the wider e-commerce industry. Establishing Lazada One in Singapore, the gateway to Southeast Asia, reinforces our commitment to supporting the growth of the digital commerce industry. Our presence here reinforces our mission to accelerate progress in Southeast Asia through commerce and technology in the next 10 years and beyond."

The ceremony was graced by Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo, who toured the new office building and delivered an opening speech to officiate the event. In her speech, she highlighted three key areas Singapore is investing in to ensure businesses and talent remain relevant and competitive — SME digitalisation, last-mile delivery infrastructure, and people.

Elaborating on the people aspect, she said: "With the global tech talent crunch, we all need to do more to ensure that our existing tech workforce remains relevant and competitive." 

With a view on the long-term growth of the industry, Lazada One will also enable the company’s efforts to cultivate youths and develop talent to sustain growth and innovations in the next decade. The group will maintain its focus on grooming talents, to fulfill commercial and technology roles, including data scientists, engineers, and product managers in various domains such as payments and cybersecurity.

Lazada Foundation

Along with the opening, Chun also announced the launch of Lazada Foundation, an initiative established by Lazada Group in 2022, which aims to award scholarships and provide growth opportunities to empower women and youths across Southeast Asia, and secure education opportunities in the digital economy for them and close the digital divide.

This will be a sustained commitment across six markets in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

These scholarships are designed to support young talents looking to "pursue their education and excel academically without financial hurdles standing in their way".

For a holistic development, these young talents will also receive career and internship opportunities, which will equip them with e-commerce skillsets for a digital future world.

“Southeast Asia’s future is in the hands of the youths, and Lazada Foundation wants to help them fulfil their dreams,” said Lillian Jiang, Chief People Officer, Lazada Group. "The future of work goes beyond what is taught in the classroom. To prepare our youths for a digital future, Lazada is committed to providing coaching, mentorship, and involvement with other technology-driven initiatives to bring youths one step closer to their dreams."

Apart from recognising young talents with outstanding academic excellence, Lazada Foundation also works with local strategic partners to provide opportunities to women. Particularly, one of the Foundation’s key pillars is to uplift women in technology. For example, in the Philippines, Lazada is working with a local non-profit organisation, For The Women (FTW) Philippines, to offer scholarships for data science courses to young women, as part of the Foundation’s aim to narrow the gender gap and promote greater inclusivity within the technology industry.

Lead image / Journalist's own

Article images / Provided

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