E-COMMERCE platform Shopee is axing more employees as its parent company Sea strains under the pressure to turn profitable amid volatile market conditions.
Singapore-based staff were informed by management on Monday (Sep 19) morning that further cuts will be made to teams, including human resources, regional operations, marketing, and product and engineering, sources told The Business Times (BT).
The announcement was made in department-wide town halls, which were impromptu and quick, one source said.
Some employees, including those in Singapore and China, began receiving email notices of their layoffs shortly after the announcement, sources said. Staff in Indonesia have been retrenched as well, according to local media.
It is unclear how many employees and markets will be affected. A Shopee spokesperson told BT: “These changes are part of our ongoing efforts to optimise operating efficiency with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency across our business. We are extending support to our affected colleagues during this transition.”
Shopee’s parent company, Sea, has taken massive cost-cutting steps in recent months as it battles increasingly uncertain macroeconomic conditions that roiled tech markets and shaved about US$170 billion from the company’s market value since its October high.
Sea, one of the most active recruiters of tech talent, earlier rescinded dozens of job offers after suffering widening losses and slower revenue growth, according to a Reuters report.
Shopee is also set to shut local operations in a few international markets, while gaming unit Garena, often regarded as the company’s cash cow, will reportedly cut hundreds of staff in Shanghai.
Chief executive and founder Forrest Li and his management team are forgoing salaries until the group reaches self-sufficiency.
Li, in a company-wide memo last Thursday seen by BT, said achieving positive cashflow was the group’s top priority for the next 12 to 18 months.
“Right now, thanks to years of prudent action and hard work, we have a solid cash base that puts us in a safer position than many of our counterparts in the tech sector,” Li said in the memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg.
“However, we can easily run through this cash base if we are not careful, and with investors fleeing for ‘safe haven’ investments, we do not anticipate being able to raise funds in the market.”
Additional reporting by Wong Pei Ting

See liao sibei song la all this FAANG wannabes kena retrench 😂

What is work
 

Anyone laid off?
Can go home and relax.
So good no need to work.
Can enjoy life.

i worked 9 years as SWE / tech lead before my salary became 8k.

You got scammed hard. Now all these kids earning 5-6k with 0 YOE already.

My team got this fresh uni kid from NUS comp science, he getting 6.2k when he can't even use github understand basic CICD pipeline...

How the fk... Meanwhile I worked 4 years I'm still at 7.8k

This tech market is a fking joke. Can't job hop either since companies wanna waste my time with their trash LeetCode garbage that's never used at work.

Who were the ones looking down on micron?

Eh shopee dog where you? Collect letter alr?

I got recently laid off, can I demand 2 months salary per year of service by virtue of being a highly talented and sought after SWE?

Happens everywhere la. You might as well say 2006 investment bankers earning $100K per annum as fresh grad. After 2008 nobody can find IB jobs,

Is luck one. A lot of things out of your control. Just do what u can to remain competitive.

Yea I guess so...

Just a bit salty, some of these fresh grads are CMI dumbasses yet can get 8-9k at shopee? makes 0 sense to me. wtf do they actually do at shopee? app is still so trash, website so trash.