Let go at 60, she finds new role in start-up

One Sunday last December, Madam Becky Chang, 60, had a feeling she was about to lose her job in a shipping company.

She had been in the industry for more than four decades.

"The next day, my company announced that my division was closing," she said yesterday.

But, armed with a wealth of experience and not wanting to waste it, Madam Chang decided to apply for a job at Moovaz, a Singapore-based start-up specialising in international moving services.

"I thought to myself, it's a start-up, full of young people. Why would they take me? But I kept an open heart and told them during my interview that my objective was to impart my knowledge to the company," she said.

Soon after, she secured a position as a shipping and procurement manager at the company, which was founded in 2017. Now, she is the oldest of 30 Moovaz employees, with the youngest being 23 years old.

To help her transition into her role, Moovaz enrolled Madam Chang in a nine-month professional conversion programme for logistics executives. She began in April, and is on schedule to complete the programme in December.

Moovaz co-founder and chief executive officer Lee Junxian said that while Madam Chang's decades of experience in the shipping field ticked all the boxes, it was her willingness to learn that stood out.

"She taught us that age is really just a number. Becky brings diversity and energy to the team, and it has been surprising and something that I've learnt in this process," said Mr Lee.