Beijing/IBNS: China’s Big Tech companies witnessed the shrinking of their payrolls in the past year as they streamline their businesses and rein in costs by shedding unprofitable projects to weather Covid-19 restrictions and a year-long regulatory crackdown, their latest financial reports show.
Internet search titan Baidu and social media and video gaming behemoth Tencent Holdings each trimmed more than 4,000 roles in 2022, leaving some 41,000 and 110,000 full-time employees on their payrolls, respectively, as of December 31, The South China Morning Post reported.
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and food delivery platform Meituan, both with a much larger workforce, cut around 20,000 and 10,000 jobs last year. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Employment at China’s largest internet companies is often considered a barometer of the country’s economic health, and the speed at which they have been slashing jobs to survive a slowing economy and regulatory headwinds has alarmed Chinese authorities.
China witnessed tough times in recent times amid rising COVID-19 cases.
