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SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. hopes to avoid layoffs this year despite the economic slowdown in China, company chief executive Daniel Zhang said on Friday.
The comments contradict Chinese media reports and market speculation about job cuts and the Chinese Internet sector's downturn, as domestic demand weakened and the prolonged trade dispute with the United States prevailed. .
"This year, not only will we not be firing employees, but we will continue to use the resources of our platforms to boost consumption, increasing the number of manufacturing orders and services" Zhang said in a message published by Weibo.
"When the economy is bad, the main advantage of online platforms is the creation of jobs."
This week, Chinese media reported that the e-commerce site and Alibaba's rival, JD.com Inc., would fire 10% of its top executives. The company refused to comment directly on the reductions.
A few days earlier, the CEO of Didi Chuxing, a company that was stepping up to the plate, had announced the dismissal of 15% of its employees, while adding that he planned to add as many jobs to new positions.
Just before the Chinese New Year, the ByteDance social media company informed staff that it would receive holiday bonuses below expectations.
In November, Alibaba lowered its annual revenue forecast to between 375 and 383 billion yuan (54.4 to 55.6 billion US dollars), down from 4 to 6 percent from its original target .
The company announces its results for the fiscal year in May.
(Report by Josh Horwitz, edited by Stephen Coates)
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