Meituan to lay off 20% of delivery staff in grocery unit

Meituan, the Chinese food delivery giant, is set to lay off 20% of workers in its grocery delivery and food distribution units, making them the worst-hit segments amid wide-scale job cuts at the firm, TechNode reported, citing local media outlet Caixin. Employees in its main food delivery and hotel-booking units will also be let go.

The job cuts come amid mounting pressure on tech firms to replace higher-income employees with cheaper staff to lower operating costs. 

The layoffs at Meituan are part of a recent wave of job cuts across China’s tech sector amid regulatory scrutiny on internet firms and a pandemic-induced slowdown in business.

Internet giants Alibaba Group and Tencent are expected to cut tens of thousands of jobs in total this year.

While layoffs are expected to continue at Meituan until the end of the month, the company has also posted 700 job openings since April 8. 

See also: Making sense of the senseless layoffs in tech