Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba has laid off nearly 10,000 employees in an effort to cut spending amid sluggish sales and a slowing economy in the country, media reported on Saturday.
According to the South China Morning Post, more than 9,241 employees left Hangzhou-based Alibaba during the June quarter, as the company reduced its total workforce to 245,700.
“This reduced the workforce of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba by 13,616 in the six months to June, the firm’s first decline in payroll size since March 2016,” the report said.
Alibaba reported a 50 percent drop in net income in the June quarter to 22.74 billion yuan ($3.4 billion), from 45.14 billion yuan in the same period last year.
“The lower payroll reflects Alibaba’s renewed efforts to cut expenses and increase efficiency, as it faces continued regulatory pressure, sluggish consumption and a slowing economy in China, the world’s largest e-commerce market,” the report said. “
Alibaba chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang Yong said the company will add about 6,000 new university graduates to its headcount this year.
Last month, reports emerged that billionaire Jack Ma was planning to give up his control of Ant Group amid pressure from government regulators.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the move is intended as part of an effort to move away from the fintech giant’s affiliate Alibaba Group Holding, which has been under intense government scrutiny.
Since last year, Chinese regulatory authorities have been cracking down on domestic tech giants such as Alibaba and Ant Group for ending their dominance in the internet sector.
According to the report, Ma may relinquish control by transferring some of his voting power to other Ant executives, including Chief Executive Eric Jing.
Ma has controlled Ant since it spun off its predecessor assets from Alibaba more than a decade ago.
Founded in 1999, Alibaba went through a major reshuffle when Ma passed the baton to Daniel Zhang as CEO in 2015 and appointed him as chairman in 2019.
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