Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding let go of 9,241 employees in the three months to June, according to the company’s latest filing, reports Caixin. The Hangzhou-based firm reported it had just over 245,000 employees at the end of the most recent reporting quarter, cutting back during a period that marked its first ever contraction in revenue.
Alibaba also reduced its workforce in the first three months of the year by 4,375, mirroring widespread moves among global tech companies to rein in spending at a time of rising inflation, materials costs and political tensions.
US firms like Apple, Alphabet and Meta Platforms have cooled recruiting while Alibaba’s closest analog, Amazon.com, has shed about 100,000 jobs. SoftBank Group, Alibaba’s biggest shareholder and among the world’s most lavish venture capital spenders, promised this week to implement sweeping cost-cutting measures that would significantly affect headcount.