Chagee brews backlash over hiring allegations, denies racial bias

Beverage chain insists on commitment to diversity

Beverage chain Chagee (M) Sdn Bhd has rubbished allegations on social media regarding racially discriminatory hiring policies. - Chagee Facebook pic, November 21, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR – Beverage chain Chagee (M) Sdn Bhd has rubbished allegations on social media regarding racially discriminatory hiring policies.

In a statement to Scoop, Chagee refuted the accusations that the company avoids hiring Indians, adding that their workforce includes Indian employees as well.

At the same time, Chagee mentioned that they strictly uphold a non-discriminatory policy when screening potential employees.

“Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

“However, we must clarify that the accusations are baseless and untrue.

“Please be assured that we currently have Indian workers in our workforce, and we strictly uphold a non-discriminatory policy during our worker screening and employment processes,” Chagee’s statement read.

Yesterday, netizen @kookgull mentioned on X that she deleted a post that made certain allegations against Chagee.

The X user said that it was because the beverage company contacted her previous employer to demand a retraction of the post.

When queried by Scoop, @kookgull explained that she worked for an organisation that provided recruitment services for Chagee, and her post on X made allegations about the beverage company’s discriminatory hiring policies that were disadvantageous to Indians.

However, it was not only @kookgull who made such allegations, as X user @g8keepur questioned Chagee to state which of their outlets have Indian staff members.

“Chagee can mention which outlet of yours has Indian employees? I want to go buy there,” @g8keepur said.

Replying to @g8keepur’s post, @kkumaee said she has not seen Indian employees in Chagee’s Kuala Lumpur outlets.

Meanwhile, @sysstxr called for a boycott against Chagee, mentioning that Malaysian companies such as Tealive and Zus hire workers regardless of race.

“Just boycott Chagee. I think it’s clear they only want their own people.

“Zus and Tealive are better because you can find Chinese, Indians, and Malays working in their outlets,” @sysstxr said.

Recently, Chagee also drew controversy after a viral video appeared to show a staff member from the beverage company rigging their ‘Tear & Win’ contest.

However, Chagee drew further criticism online after the beverage company told the individual who uploaded the video to take down their post, failing which the company would take legal action.

Chagee has since apologised for the ‘Tear & Win’ fiasco and is conducting investigations into the incident to take further action. – November 21, 2024