China's Cyberspace Administration said on Friday (April 8) that Chinese internet companies have seen a significant increase in hiring over the past nine months and the job market has stabilized.
As the Chinese government's regulatory policies have been greatly tightened since last year, many Chinese Internet companies have been forced to shrink their business since the second half of last year, and their performance has declined. Just as rumors of layoffs by Internet companies were widely circulated, several cities in China experienced a severe rebound of the new crown epidemic, leading to city closures and escalation of control measures, further impacting the business and revenue of these Internet companies, forcing some companies to carry out Downsizing or restructuring, laying off loss-making departments and their employees.
The State Cyberspace Administration of China's WeChat public account "Cynet China" said Friday that after interviews with 12 online companies including Tencent, Alibaba, Meituan and JD.com, the authorities found that from July 2021 to mid-March 2022, the The number of recruits is far more than the number of departures, so the job market in the Internet industry is stable.
According to a post by the Cyberspace Administration of China, in the past nine months, the cumulative number of employees from 12 Internet companies in China was 216,800, and the cumulative number of recruits was 295,900, so the actual net increase of employees was 79,100. Eleven of the 12 companies interviewed had more hiring than leaving, the post said.
"The flow of personnel in the Internet industry is generally fast, and the current number of employees and business development are generally stable, and we are full of confidence in future development," the post quoted the interviewed companies as saying.
These 12 Internet companies in China are big recruiters and taxpayers, and once the business or revenue of these companies declines, it may hit China's overall economy, and even the achievement of this year's economic growth target of 5.5% will be affected, although this goal It is already the lowest level in China in the past 25 years.
Social media platforms Weibo, ByteDance and e-commerce platform JD.com told the office that the loss of employees in some departments at these companies was balanced by new hires in other departments, according to a post by the Cyberspace Administration of China.
Tencent told the Cyberspace Administration of China that it had 112,800 employees at the end of 2021, a 31 percent increase from a year earlier, and that the company was expecting a further increase this year.
The CAC said that the companies interviewed all expressed their desire to maintain the stability of their workforce and seek to create more jobs.
"In the interview, many companies said that the development of my country's Internet informatization business has entered a new stage. Wangxin Enterprise is in a prosperous age and has a bright future. Strive to maintain the stability of the existing workforce and focus on creating more jobs for the society," the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a post.
Since the second half of last year, after the regulatory policy of the Cyberspace Administration of China was significantly tightened, many Chinese Internet giants were forced to downsize and lay off employees in order to control and reduce losses due to the multiple negative news of Sino-US trade friction and the rebound of the new crown epidemic. Maintain company performance.
At the end of last year, the Chinese short-video platform Kuaishou began to report layoffs of up to 30%; Tencent and ByteDance had already started their own layoffs before that. Before and after the Spring Festival, Didi Chuxing reported that it was laying off 2,000 people, accounting for about 20% of the company's total employees. Then Sina Weibo also spread the news of layoffs of 100 people, and some people were laid off without even receiving the year-end bonus.
Even Alibaba and Tencent once reported plans to lay off tens of thousands of jobs this year.