China’s Craigslist, 58.com, axes thousands of jobs, sources say, amid economic slowdown and tech sector malaise
- The operator of China’s oldest classifieds website has begun sweeping lay-offs expected to hit 30 per cent of staff, or as many as 10,000 workers
- The company, which listed in New York in 2013, went private in 2020 in one of the earliest stock market casualties of souring US-China relations
China’s top classified advertising website, 58.com, is laying off thousands of workers as it contends with economic slowdown, according to people familiar with the matter.
The ongoing job cuts are expected to affect about 30 per cent of the company, which employs nearly 30,000 people, across a number of business groups, according to one source who was briefed about the lay-offs who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person is not authorised to speak with news media.
Affected employees have also started to leak the company’s lay-off plans on Chinese social media, including the professional networking platform Maimai.
58.com, which delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2020 to pursue a new listing in China, did not respond to requests for comment. According to local news portal Sina.com, the number of lay-offs could range from 7,000 to 10,000.
The website is known as a kind of Chinese Craigslist, where people can find classified ads for part-time jobs, flats, housecleaning services, used goods and more. Founded in 2005 by Yao Jingbo, who at 47 years old remains the CEO, 58.com connects local merchants and consumers across more than 400 cities in China.
The job cuts are a fresh sign of China’s weak growth and lingering trouble in the country’s technology sector, which have dashed hopes of a strong economic rebound after Beijing scrapped its strict Covid-19 restrictions and reopened borders earlier this year.
