Chinese tech companies begin mass layoffs
Employees at China’s largest tech companies have faced massive layoffs amid regulatory uncertainty in the tech sector and a slowdown in the economy caused by the fight against COVID-19.
It is not yet known how many workforces in China’s tech giants will be affected, as companies are not ready to release these numbers publicly, but according to SCMP, job cuts are happening across a wide range of jobs.
For example, the largest gaming and media company that owns Tencent Holdings has fired about 100 people from its sports channels. Another source said that some companies within Tencent have been experiencing layoffs since April. He notes that sometimes entire teams of more than 20 employees have been fired.
In March, Martin Lau, Tencent’s president, said the company was simplifying some of its non-core employee control work. Meanwhile, he noted that the total number of individuals by the end of this year will remain higher compared to 2021.
Alibaba Group Holdings is also among the companies laying off employees. According to an Economics Weekly report, the company is laying off employees in stages.
According to media reports, this will affect the work of divisions such as DingTalk, Alibaba Cloud, Taobao and Taobao Deals.
It is noteworthy that in April, the unemployment rate for people aged 16-24 in China was 18.2%, compared to 13.9% in Europe and 8.6% in the United States.
