SINGAPORE — The fallout from the sudden collapse of True Fitness and True Yoga is moving beyond shuttered gyms and stranded memberships, with about 230 employees and freelancers now turning to Singapore’s fitness industry for help finding their next jobs.
The Singapore Fitness Alliance, or SFA, said on Sunday, September 13, that it is helping affected workers following the abrupt shutdown of businesses under True Group.
SFA president and co-founder Sean Tan told CNA that around 230 employees and freelancers from True Group had contacted the organisation so far. The alliance is working with the National Instructors & Coaches Association (NICA) and e2i, NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute, to support those searching for new opportunities.
But there is an important limit to that assistance.
The SFA says its role is focused on employment and will not extend to recovering unpaid salaries or commissions.
And for some former True Group workers, that may be the more immediate concern.
Staff went from running classes to looking for work within hours
True Fitness and True Yoga employees were informed late on September 10 that the Singapore companies were being wound up and that their outlets would not reopen the following day.
The Straits Times reported that employees received an email at around 10.30pm on September 10, leaving many staff shocked by the speed of the closure.
The following afternoon, former employees gathered at the group’s Claymore Hill headquarters to meet provisional liquidators and learn what would happen next.
The Business Times estimated that about 100 former employees attended meetings across several sessions, although workers interviewed afterwards said significant questions remained unanswered.
That makes the SFA intervention particularly significant.
Instead of waiting for the liquidation process to play out before workers begin looking for new positions, Singapore’s wider fitness industry is now trying to connect affected trainers, instructors and other staff with potential employers.
SFA says many gyms, studios and boutique fitness operators in Singapore are among its members, potentially giving displaced workers access to a broad industry network.
The job search may be easier than recovering money owed
While the job-matching effort offers one immediate route forward, the financial position facing former staff is considerably more complicated.
The Business Times reported that some former workers remained uncertain about their September salaries and CPF contributions following meetings with the provisional liquidators.
Some workers said they had not yet received their September pay because their normal salary dates had not arrived before the shutdown. Freelancers, meanwhile, told the newspaper that they were typically paid later, around the middle of the following month.
The liquidation process will therefore determine what amounts remain payable and how claims will be handled.
Under Singapore’s insolvency rules, employees have significant protection compared with ordinary unsecured creditors. The Ministry of Manpower says employee salary claims are ranked ahead of all other unsecured debts, although the costs and expenses of administering the winding-up process take priority.
MOM also says workers facing salary arrears when a company enters liquidation should generally file a Proof of Debt with the liquidator, while the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management can assist employees with the process.
So the employment assistance announced by SFA solves only one half of the immediate crisis.
Finding another job does not automatically settle what a former employee may still be owed by True Group.
Foreign employees face an even tighter clock
The closure carries an additional complication for foreign trainers and instructors whose ability to remain in Singapore is linked to their employment.
One True employee told The Straits Times that some foreign colleagues could face a short window to make new arrangements after their employment ends.
Under MOM rules, employers are generally required to cancel an Employment Pass, S Pass or Work Permit within one week after employment ends. Depending on the type of pass and circumstances, foreign workers may then receive temporary permission to remain in Singapore while preparing to depart or making other arrangements.
That means for some displaced workers, finding another employer is not merely about income.
It could determine whether they are able to continue living and working in Singapore.
Why True Fitness and True Yoga collapsed
True Group’s Hong Kong-listed parent, Kontafarma China Holdings, said its Singapore fitness businesses had become unable to continue operating because of their liabilities.
According to CNA, the parent company pointed to a fitness market transformed by boutique studios, exercise facilities in condominiums and private residences, and digital training options.
The Business Times reported that the financial strain was substantial.
For the eight months ended August 31, 2026, the parent group recorded a loss of about HK$19.1 million, while liabilities stood at around HK$429.3 million. The Singapore fitness operation had also recorded losses in the previous financial year.
True Group was hardly a new entrant.
The business had been operating in Singapore since 2004, building its presence through brands including True Fitness, TFX and Yoga Edition. But CNA noted that the group had already withdrawn from Malaysia and Thailand in 2017 and Taiwan in 2025.
Singapore was therefore one of its remaining major markets before the latest shutdown.
Customers are caught in the same collapse
The employee crisis is occurring alongside another major problem: members who prepaid for memberships, personal training and other services.
As of 6pm on September 11, the Consumers Association of Singapore had received 241 complaints involving more than S$609,000 in reported losses from unused memberships, packages and services.
Those claims are separate from employee wages and commissions, but they underline the scale of the collapse.
One business failure has effectively created three different groups seeking answers:
employees and freelancers searching for new work, workers trying to determine what money they may still be owed, and customers trying to recover prepaid funds.
The bigger story is what Singapore’s fitness industry does next
There is another dimension to the collapse that could matter beyond True Fitness.
The company’s parent blamed increasingly intense competition and changing consumer behaviour, including the growth of smaller specialised studios and home or residential fitness options.
That raises a wider question about the economics of Singapore’s traditional large-format gym model.
Large fitness chains typically rely heavily on recurring memberships, prepaid packages, expensive leases and sufficiently high customer volumes to support sizeable facilities.
Boutique operators can compete differently, targeting narrower activities such as reformer Pilates, spinning, strength training, boxing or yoga while operating smaller facilities.
Digital fitness platforms and increasingly sophisticated condominium gyms add yet another layer of competition.
True Group’s liquidation does not prove that the large-gym model is disappearing. Singapore still supports multiple major fitness operators.
But the speed of this shutdown shows what can happen once the finances behind a membership-based business become unsustainable.
230 people are already trying to move forward
For the trainers, instructors, sales teams and support staff affected, however, the industry’s long-term transformation is secondary to a much simpler question:
Where will they work next?
Around 230 employees and freelancers have already approached the Singapore Fitness Alliance.
That is a substantial number of people attempting to make the transition at almost the same time.
The cooperation between SFA, NICA and e2i could therefore become one of the quickest ways for displaced fitness professionals to get back into the industry.
But a new job will not erase everything left behind.
For former True Group workers still awaiting clarity over salaries, CPF contributions or commissions, the job hunt may move faster than the liquidation.
They can start looking for their next employer now. What they still do not know is when — or how much — they will recover from the last one.
I can also monitor the True Fitness liquidation and alert you when there is a significant update on employee payments, customer refunds or the S$609,000-plus in claims.
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