Alibaba’s community group-buying business unit MMC is reportedly planning to lay off about 20% of its employees, Pandaily reported, citing a report from Chinese media publication Yilanshangye. Several business lines within the unit have finalized their initial layoff lists.
Tech in Asia has reached out to Alibaba for a response regarding the job cuts.
In March 2021, Alibaba launched a recruitment drive for its community group-buying business, posting 57 vacancies across 19 Chinese cities, covering job functions from warehouse operations and fresh food purchasing to backend programming.
Community group-buying has been a popular ecommerce model in China that allows groups of people, often living in the same residential compound, to obtain discounts by purchasing groceries, and other daily essentials in bulk.
The reported layoffs come amid an ongoing crackdown on tech in Beijing. While iQiyi is reportedly letting go of around 20% to 40% of its current workforce, Tiktok rival Kuaishou is looking to lay off 30% of its staff.
Editing by Collin Furtado and Arpit Nayak
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