Singapore e-commerce giant Shopee cuts jobs in China as lay-offs spread from Indonesia, Latin America
- Shopee says the job cuts are part of its ongoing efforts to ‘optimise operating efficiency with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency’
- The company gained attention in China last month when a worker said his job offer was rescinded at the last minute after arriving in Singapore
In a statement released on Monday, Shopee said the job cuts were part of its ongoing efforts to “optimise operating efficiency with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency across our business”.
“We are extending support to our affected colleagues during this transition,” Shopee said, without specifying the size of the latest round of lay-offs.
A person with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media, said less than 10 per cent of employees in each team were affected.
Shopee’s latest job cuts became a hot topic on Maimai, a professional networking site in China akin to LinkedIn. One user claiming to be a Shopee employee wrote, “Just ended a team meeting with my boss. Seven minutes. The lay-off was announced.”
The post drew more than 400 comments and was reposted more than 500 times. That user later wrote in the comment thread that one business unit laid off more than two-thirds of its employees.