Ergonomic chair retailer, Secretlab is planning to hire approximately 100 employees, mainly in the area of product development.

At present, more than 200 people work with Secretlab, with around 90% of them being Singaporeans. It produces over one million chairs per year, which are sold in approximately 60 countries.

Alaric Choo, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Secretlab, said that the seven-year-old organization would mostly be hiring more designers and engineers.

The lab, which is exclusively open to product development workers, is used to evaluate the durability of materials in humidity chambers and pressure mapping stations.

Secretlab’s Co-founder and Chief Executive, Mr. Ian Ang, said that the company has invested $10 million in building up the headquarters and R&D center. The firm plans to invest $50 million in the coming years into research and development to enhance product development and innovation capabilities further.

With the company's current size, he said that even a 0.1 per cent fault rate would impact a thousand people. 

This is why the firm is putting so much money into product development. Its economies of scale amplifies the impact of this investment, allowing the firm to access new technologies that will continue to improve its products further, Mr. Ang added.

Trade and Industry Minister, Gan Kim Yong mentions that the Covid-19 outbreak offers potential for Singapore companies to expand and look at other markets. Some will see it as a crisis, while others will see it as an opportunity.

He claims that since other companies and markets are also encountering issues, there is a window to take advantage of this chance to relocate the products outside.

Mr. Gan pointed out that the government's approach to assisting local businesses is "individual-centric" rather than "scheme-centric."

He praised Secretlab by saying that it has a forward-thinking approach and continues to innovate new products and seek new markets.

Source Credit - https://www.asiaone.com/money/gaming-chair-company-secretlab-create-about-100-new-jobs-singapore