Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, March 14 (TMTPOST) — Reports of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Internet giant Tencent undergoing massive layoffs hit Weibo’s trending chart on Sunday.

Layoff plans at Alibaba (09988.HK, BABA.NYSE) target the company’s community e-commerce business group MMC and online travel service Feizhu, etc., according to unconfirmed information on social media. Tencent (00700.HK) on the other hand is reportedly laying off staff at its PCG (Platform & Content Group) and CSIG (Cloud and Smart Industries Group) business group.

Alibaba and Tencent have not commented on the reports.

Before reports of the layoffs went trending on Chinese social media Weibo, some employees of Alibaba had already revealed that the company will be starting a new round of layoffs and let go 20% of its MMC business group. Other business departments also have their layoff plan, sources said.

Alibaba’s MMC business group was established in March 2021, focusing on community services. The business group integrates Alibaba LST and Hemajishi. Later in September 2021, MMC business group announced that it would merge Hemajishi and Taobaomaicai into a new brand named Taocaicai.

Some users on Chinese professional networking application Maimai said that Taocaicai had closed its warehouses in some cities and that it might close more after March. Some users that are verified to be employees of Alibaba on Maimai said that they have received layoff notice.

Alibaba’s online travel service platform Feizhu is reportedly undergoing layoffs as well. Several members of the operation and the technical team claimed on Maimai that they had been requested to have a meeting with HR. It is reported that employees that got laid off are provided with the option of internal job transfer or N+1 compensation package. Employees that choose to undergo internal job transfer will not receive compensation from the company. Employees that got laid off will not receive their 2021-2022 year-end bonus.