Shopee, the e-commerce company based in Singapore, has reportedly laid off more staff due to the changing market conditions, the firm announced in a joint statement with the CMPU or creative media and publishing union.
As per reports, the employees affected by the job cuts will be offered adequate compensation packages. While a low single-digit percentage of Shopee’s employees are affected, it is currently unclear how many of the firm's regional markets would be impacted by this most recent cost-cutting move.
The job cuts have affected staff in roles such as human resources, marketing, regional operations, product, and engineering among others.
Additionally, sources privy to the matter claimed that some employees, particularly the ones in Singapore and China, started receiving e-mail notifications of their layoffs soon after department-wide town hall meetings.
Shopee, the e-commerce division of the New York-listed Sea, had already previously laid off employees in its ShopeeFood and ShopeePay departments earlier this year in the region.
In past months, its parent organization has implemented significant cost-cutting measures as concerns about its ability to turn a profit rose in light of the challenging global economy and the widespread drop in tech stocks.
The company also cut workers in its gaming division Garena, as well as its research and development division, Sea Labs, earlier this month.
According to a joint statement from CMPU and Shopee, if necessary, employment assistance and facilitation would be provided to the affected staff, including career counseling and job matching facilities through the network of CMPU and the National Trades Union Congress or NTC's employment and employability institute (e2i).
CMPU stated that it will continue to collaborate closely with Shopee to ensure that workers' welfare and interests are taken care of as much as possible.
According to reports, Sea is also getting ready to lay off 3% of Shopee’s staff in Indonesia as part of a larger regional wave of employment cutbacks to stop the company’s spiraling losses and earn back investors.
In an internal memo that rolled out last week, Sea co-founder, Forrest Li, emphasized the need for the company to become self-sufficient and also announced that the company’s senior management will forgo salaries and set a limit on business expenses.