Lazada, the e-commerce giant under Alibaba‘s umbrella, has commenced a comprehensive round of layoffs affecting employees at all levels across Southeast Asia.
While the exact number of affected employees remains undisclosed, insiders suggest the figure could be in the hundreds, with Singapore bearing the brunt of the restructuring, CNBC reported.
The layoffs are anticipated to span across various functions, including commercial, retail, and marketing.
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Employees in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam will reportedly feel the impact of the cuts.
Lazada, which became an Alibaba subsidiary in 2016, faces formidable competition in the Southeast Asian e-commerce landscape, notably from rivals such as TikTok Shop.
The latter, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, recently garnered attention with its partnership with Indonesia’s tech giant GoTo, which resulted in a $1.5bn investment.
TikTok has plans to expand its e-commerce presence in the US, encroaching on Amazon’s lead, as the sector is set to be worth over $9trn by 2030.
According to original reports from Bloomberg, which references sources familiar with the matter, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has increased its sales target after achieving $20bn last year in sales.
In June 2022, James Dong took over as Lazada Group CEO from Chun Li, marking another chapter in a series of transitions since Lucy Peng’s tenure ended in 2018.
In November 2023, Alibaba announced it would close its quantum computing research lab in a move that marks further staff cutbacks for the Chinese technology giant.
