Following the strategic contraction of Jingxi business, JD.com is trimming its staff at several divisions, adding to the list of Big Tech firms that are slashing headcounts to survive a market downturn
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, which until recently had been considered to have escaped the large-scale tech layoff, has also been mired in the massive downsizing drive.
The rumored layoffs involve multiple departments, including platform ecosystem and business promotion units under JD.com, the tech and data intelligence affiliates of JD Logistics, and JD Global.
Many employees revealed to Jiemian, a business news portal, that JD Global will trim 10-15% of its staff.
A widely circulated document online purportedly leaked from JD.com shows that the planned cuts impact wider sections of the company's workforce, with a so-called “optimization” ratio ranging between 10% and 30% and involving several units under JD.com and JD Technology.
In the parlance of Chinese tech industry, “optimization” is a euphemism for firing somebody.
Previously, JD.com’s community group-buying platform Jingxi, launched in 2019, was hit by a layoff in mid-March.
It provides low-cost products with quality services such as next-day arrival for purchases made by community users. This put it on a collision course with rivals like Pinduoduo and Meituan.
Many employees who spoke to Jiemian said they had been asked to resign on March 31. For staff who were terminated without being notified 30 days in advance, JD.com will offer a “N+1” compensation package, meaning a severance pay equivalent to “N” times their monthly salary plus another month’s worth. “N” stands for their number of years in service.
On March 10, JD.com released its Q4 2021 financial reports, revealing a net loss of CNY 5.2 billion in a single quarter, compared with a net profit of CNY 24.3 billion in the same period last year.
Amid the unrelenting regulatory crackdown and chilling macro-environment for Internet giants, Tencent and Alibaba have been rumored to initiate massive layoffs in coming weeks.
According to internal speculation among employees, Tencent will lay off 10% to 30% of its employees, while Alibaba will lay off 30%, but these figures have yet to be confirmed by their HR departments.