KUALA LUMPUR – Troubled online shopping platform Lazada is purportedly gearing up for a significant workforce reduction in Malaysia, following a parallel downsizing in its Singapore branch.
Employees across various departments at Lazada Malaysia’s office have allegedly been informed about an impending meeting with the company’s human resources team in the next few days.
A source close to the matter told Scoop that the marketing team is anticipated to bear the brunt of the layoffs, with potential reductions of up to 90%.
“We don’t actually know what’s happening, but we’ve been told that the layoffs are happening soon. There’s a complete blackout of information (leading to) a lack of transparency,” said the source, who spoke with Scoop on the condition of anonymity.
Scoop was also made to understand that the layoffs will not be exclusive to Singapore and Malaysia as firings are expected to take place in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The source also said that news of the layoffs comes just a week after Lazada opened a new floor in its office here to cater to an increased number of employees.
It is understood that while certain employees have received calendar invitations for their meeting with the human resources department, other staffers are left in the dark as information on the matter is only being conferred verbally without any written documentation.
Earlier today, The Edge Singapore reported that Lazada Singapore laid off its junior and senior employees from multiple departments today.
It also said that the retrenchment exercise could last until January 5, with a source noting that meeting rooms have been reserved by the human resources department for the remainder of the week.
Last month, it was reported that China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Lazada’s parent company, had invested an additional US$634 million (approximately RM2.9 billion) into Lazada as it raced to compete with other e-commerce platforms.
Alibaba is said to have repeatedly injected cash into Lazada since 2022, with the December investment marking its third investment for 2023, bringing the year’s total to over US$1.8 billion (about RM8.3 billion).
Founded in 2012 under parent company Rocket Internet, Lazada was then acquired by Alibaba in 2016. With a variety of similar platforms on the market, the company faces intense competition from the likes of Shopee in its South-East Asian markets.
Lazada has also seen a number of chiefs assuming and then relinquishing the top post over the past five years.
In June last year, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd appointed James Dong as the new chief executive for the Lazada group.
The 42-year-old, who previously headed Alibaba’s business in Thailand and served as a business assistant to Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang, replaced Chun Li – a seasoned technologist, who transitioned into a role as adviser to Lazada Group chairman Jiang Fan.
Following the appointment, Dong handed over the leadership in Vietnam to Kaya Qin.
Li, who helmed Lazada as group CEO for two years, succeeded Pierre Poignant, Lazada’s co-founder under Rocket Internet in 2012. – January 3, 2024