Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has moved into a new space at a prime office tower in Singapore to bring together more employees in the city state.
Employees at the video gaming and social media conglomerate moved into CapitaSky, a 29-story tower in Singapore’s central business district this week from a WeWork office at 30 Raffles Place, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
A Tencent representative confirmed the company has moved employees to the new location.
For now, Tencent is taking up one floor, or about half of a 56,000-square-foot (5,203-square-metre) flexible working space, in the tower. The Shenzhen-based firm may eventually move staff from another co-working centre at nearby CapitaSpring tower when the lease ends into the new space, the people said.
CapitaSky is prominently located at the junction of Robinson Road and Maxwell Road, within Singapore’s vibrant Tanjong Pagar district. Photo: Google Maps
Other tenants in CapitaSky include German multinational financial services firm Allianz and Boston Consulting Group, according to the building’s majority owner CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust.
The Work Project, a co-working operator backed by CapitaLand Group, operates both the CapitaSky and CapitaSpring spaces. The Work Project’s head of sales, Sheena Goh, confirmed the move in a statement, saying the company affirms its “three-year strong partnership” with Tencent.
“We recently relocated one of our offices from 30 Raffles Place to The Work Project at CapitaSky due to the conclusion of our lease agreement,” the Tencent representative said. “We are excited to continue our business in Singapore.”
Tencent’s move reflects the cautious mood in an office market showing early signs of weakness because of rising lay-offs in sectors like technology and finance, along with the shift to working from home.
Tencent Holdings, headquartered in Shenzhen, runs the world’s largest video gaming business by revenue and the biggest social media operation in mainland China. Photo: Bloomberg
Some firms are consolidating employees in one location, while keeping the option for future expansion if needed. Others including Meta Platforms, Citigroup and BNP Paribas have moved to cut space.
Still, Singapore has so far skirted the downturns seen in other cities, with vacancy rates for prime central business district offices hovering at 2.6 per cent at the end of the first quarter, according to Colliers International Group. That is less than a fifth of the rate for Central district-based offices in Hong Kong, a rival financial hub.
Singapore has benefited from an influx of wealth and firms, particularly from China, as companies seek to expand regionally and reduce their presence at home amid rising US tensions. That includes ByteDance-owned short video app operator TikTok, which has set up its headquarters in the city state, as well as online fast-fashion retailer Shein.
