Baidu confirms hiring freeze after internal email leaked

Internet search giant Baidu acknowledged it had enacted a hiring freeze on large-scale recruiting outside its central campus, AllChinaTech reported, citing local media. Baidu confirmed the freeze in response to an interview request from China Business News following the leak of what appeared to be an internal email from Liu Hui, the company’s vice president of human resources. Exceptions to the freeze will have to be approved by either Liu or Robin Li, Baidu’s founder and chief executive officer, according to the email. The move comes about a month after Chinese e-commerce colossus Alibaba cut new hires from several thousand to just 400.