ZINGER KEY POINTS
- Alibaba laid off 9,241 employees in the June quarter
- The retrenchment comes amid regulatory crackdowns and domestic economic challenges
Alibaba Group Holding Limited reported this week forecast-beating fiscal-year first-quarter earnings even as revenue growth stagnated.
The Jack Ma-led company cut jobs at a frenetic pace in the June quarter to keep a tight rein on costs amid an inclement economic environment, the South China Morning Post reported Friday.
The Hangzhou-based company let go of 9,241 employees, representing 3.6% of its workforce, which totaled 254,941 at the end of the March quarter, the report said. In the year-to-date period, the company shed 13,616 jobs, marking the first drop in payrolls since March 2016, it added.
The right-sizing comes amid the Chinese e-commerce giant’s efforts to reduce expenses and improve efficiency.
Job cuts and exiting of non-core activities will likely sharpen the company’s focus on its core businesses and prop up profit margins, Cheng Yu, a researcher at the Beijing Kandong Research Institute said, according to SCMP.
Alibaba began cutting jobs in May through several rounds of eliminations at its Taobao Marketplace consumer-to-consumer online shopping platform, DingTalk enterprise messaging platform and AliCloud business, the Economics Weekly reported.
Alibaba has been on the radar of Chinese regulators since late 2020 and had to experience several punitive actions, including the imposition of a hefty fine. The COVID pandemic and the economic slowdown that followed aggravated the situation further.
U.S.-listed Alibaba ADR closed Friday’s session down 5% at $92.56.
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