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In a rare, direct response by a top government agency to fears of a jobs crisis, the Cyberspace Administration of China said Friday that the country’s 12 tech giants hired more workers than they lost in the past nine months. It cited recent “heated public discussion” about reports of “large scale layoffs” at the large internet companies.
The CAC said it had recently spoken with A-list tech companies such as Alibaba (BABA), Tencent (TCEHY), Bytedance, JD.com (JD), Pinduoduo (PDD), and Ant Group. At these companies, 216,800 people had left their jobs between July and mid-March, while 295,900 people were hired during the same period, the survey found.
“The total employment at the companies has increased steadily,” the CAC said in a statement. They had recorded strong growth in some new businesses, with their revenues “repeatedly hitting new highs,” it added.
“They are full of confidence in future development, ” the CAC said.
The CAC statement paints a more upbeat picture than recent earnings statements from some of those companies, as well as comments from other government officials on the health of the wider labor market. It also contrasts with the reluctance of the tech companies themselves to respond to reports of job losses.
In recent weeks, international media outlets have reported that China’s tech sector is facing its worst job losses since the government launched a crackdown to rein in its most powerful companies in late 2020.
The once-freewheeling industry was long the main source of well-paid employment in China, but companies such as Alibaba and Tencent are now reportedly preparing to shed tens of thousands of employees to reduce operating costs. Both have repeatedly declined to comment.
Some of the biggest players in Chinese tech — Alibaba, Tencent, and Pinduoduo — have all reported their slowest revenue growth on record, and their share prices have halved since regulatory crackdown began.
Private job surveys also indicate that jobs are being lost…
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Source : cnn
