SINGAPORE - Ongoing layoffs at McDonald’s in the United States will not impact the Singapore business, which employs over 10,000 mostly non-corporate workers.

This is because the fast-food giant’s restaurants in Singapore are not directly owned and operated by McDonald’s but by a local company, Hanbaobao, a spokesman for McDonald’s Singapore said in response to queries from The Straits Times.

“McDonald’s Singapore is under the direct licensee model led by Hanbaobao, which owns and oversees the business, as well as looks after the employment of its over 10,000-strong workforce,” said the spokesman.

“The events in the US do not impact our local market.”

There are currently more than 140 McDonald’s restaurants in Singapore.

The company declined to comment on the number of its corporate employees in Singapore, or its hiring plans here.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that McDonald’s temporarily closed its US offices till Wednesday to gear up for layoffs among its corporate staff.

They were reportedly asked to work from home so that decisions could be virtually delivered, according to an internal e-mail sent to US employees and some international staff.

Hundreds of corporate roles are said to be on the line, with the company reportedly to begin informing affected workers from Monday.

Singapore franchise holder Hanbaobao is wholly owned by holding company Lion Arches, according to Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority records.

Lion Arches, in turn, is held solely by Lionhorn, a Saudi-led firm that bought the franchise rights for McDonald’s restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia in 2016, according to a Reuters report at the time.

McDonald’s also transferred its ownership stake in 390 restaurants in the two countries to Lionhorn as part of the deal then.

The deal was said to be part of McDonald’s plan to move away from direct ownership of its restaurants in Asia towards a less capital-intensive franchise model.