Sea e-commerce arm Shopee cuts jobs in third round of layoffs this year, including in Singapore

SINGAPORE - E-commerce giant Shopee on Monday started another round of layoffs, which affected some people in Singapore, in yet another round of job woes as its parent Sea Limited struggles towards profitability.

This is at least the third round of job cuts Shopee has made this year, following its most recent layoffs in September.

Unlike the previous rounds, sources told The Straits Times that the latest exercise was subdued and not many people had known about it, although there had been rumours earlier that there were plans to let people go.

Teams affected this time round included those in human resources and from learning and development, according to sources and posts on professional networking platform LinkedIn.

One of those who was affected was Ms Angelica Pasiola, who identified herself as a multimedia artist at the firm. In a LinkedIn post, she said that she arrived in the office at around 9am and received the news when she was about to start work on one of her projects.

“That’s when I got the news, we had an urgent meeting and we were told that there will be another round of layoffs today and some of us will be affected,” she said, adding that the news had hit her harder when she learnt that her entire team had been affected.

The past few months had not been easy for her, Ms Pasiola wrote, adding that she had always felt uneasy since the previous round of layoffs.

When she read the e-mail on Monday morning, she felt “surreal” and “numb”, but added that she understood that things have not been easy for companies because of the poor macroeconomic conditions.

More at https://www.straitstimes.com/business/sea-e-commerce-arm-shopee-cuts-jobs-in-third-round-of-layoffs-this-year-including-in-s-pore

Shopee Confirms It Required Laid-Off Workers to Compensate for Computer Damage

On September 26, it was reported that Shopee, an e-commerce giant with operations in Southeast Asia, demanded that laid-off employees pay compensation for damaged work computers. In some cases, this involves covering costs of around 2,500 yuan ($349) for an Apple computer. Shopee confirmed this policy to Chinese media outlets, claiming that that it has affected less than ten former colleagues and that it is part of normal resignation procedures.

Established in 2009, Shopee is an online e-commerce platform headquartered in Singapore, operating under Sea Limited. The platform was first launched in Singapore in 2015, and consists of two departments, “Auction” and “Mall.”

On September 19 this year, Shopee was revealed to have initiated large-scale layoffs in China, and the proportion of layoffs in some departments was as high as 30% to 60%. Some Shopee employees said that this time, instead of layoffs in accordance with the overall proportion, some business departments and positions were “optimized” and adjusted. It has been less than a month since the cancellation of contracts at the Singapore headquarters that broke out earlier.

Shopee’s layoffs are not without warning. In 2021, Shopee broadened its expansion plan. In Europe, it opened sites in Poland, Spain and France, and in Latin America, it opened sites in Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia, among other countries. It also implemented a large-scale layout when entering the Indian market.

After experiencing a massive expansion in 2021, Shopee has faced issues this year, closing business units in countries such as France, India, and Spain successively, and its business scale continues to shrink. Given the latest financial report from its parent company, the net loss in the second quarter was $931 million. The growth of its main source of profit, digital entertainment, slowed down, performance was under pressure, and losses continued, making it difficult to continue to support the continuous expansion of Shopee.

Forrest Li, the founder and CEO of Sea Limited, also issued an internal letter saying that the top management of the company had decided to voluntarily give up remuneration, also reducing the company’s various expenses. This has involved measures such as the business travel budget was lowered to economy class fares, meal budget was limited to $30 per day, and hotel stay spending limit was decreased to $150 per night.

In a second-quarter report released recently by Sea Limited, the company’s revenue in the period was $2.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29%, slightly lower than the expected $2.967 billion.

Losses were still high. The financial report shows that net losses in the second quarter were $931 million, compared with net losses of $434 million in the same period last year, up 114%. The adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) totaled $506.3 million, while the figure was $24.1 million a year earlier.

Specifically, Shopee’s overall adjusted EBITDA loss in the second quarter was $648 million, which was the bulk of the loss. The growth rate of its gross merchandise volume (GMV) fell to 27%, reaching $19 billion, lower than the $19.9 billion after the market lowered expectations. Moreover, the growth of its e-commerce business has slowed down.

https://pandaily.com/shopee-confirms-it-required-laid-off-workers-to-compensate-for-computer-damage/

In the words of the sagely Peanuts Goh:

More layoffs at Shopee, three months after previous round of job cuts

SINGAPORE: E-commerce giant Shopee cut more jobs on Monday (Sep 19), the most recent in a series of moves following widening losses and slower revenue growth.

The retrenchments were announced internally this morning in town halls with staff.

“These changes are part of our ongoing efforts to optimise operating efficiency with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency across our business,” said a Shopee spokesperson in response to queries about the retrenchments announced on Monday.

“We are extending support to our affected colleagues during this transition.”

Shopee is also in touch with the Creative Media and Publishing Union (CMPU), which represents Shopee’s employees, about its latest "adjustments", it said in a joint statement with the union.

“The company has assured CMPU that appropriate compensation packages will be extended to affected employees in line with market norms,” the statement read.

“Employment facilitation and assistance, including career coaching and job matching services via CMPU’s network and e2i will be offered, if required.”

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/shopee-job-cuts-sea-garena-forrest-li-2948736

Tech workers left hanging as Sea e-commerce arm Shopee rescinds job offers

Southeast Asia's largest e-commerce firm Shopee has rescinded dozens of job offers in the past two weeks, sources said, a move that began shortly after parent company Sea reported widening losses and sharply slower revenue growth.

Four people interviewed by Reuters who have participated in a WeChat group of some 60 people that was set up to discuss Shopee's withdrawal of offers said their offers were pulled just days before they were due to begin work.

One 27-year-old engineer who asked that only his first name Wang be used, said his call came a week after arriving in Singapore, having quit a job in Shanghai with TikTok owner Bytedance.

"I thought it was a scam call ... until I realised it was a widespread rescinding of offers by Shopee," said Wang, who had by then paid an advance to rent a house.

Singapore-based Sea said it had recently cancelled some offers at Shopee but declined to say how many.

"Due to adjustments to hiring plans on some tech teams, a number of roles at Shopee are no longer available. We are working closely to support those affected," a company representative said.

The move follows other recent job cuts at Sea. Staff at Booyah!, a gaming livestream app, which is part of Sea's gaming unit Garena, were told they would be let go and the app would no longer be updated, separate sources have told Reuters, adding that projects at Sea's development unit were also shut down.

Earlier this year, media reports also said Shopee had shed headcount in Southeast Asia, Mexico and

Latin America. Shopee declined to comment on those reports.

PESSIMISTIC TONE​

As recently as March, Sea said it would continue to invest in Shopee, which competes with Alibaba Group Holding's Southeast Asian arm Lazada, and that growth for the unit remained at the top of its mind.

But last month, Sea withdrew its e-commerce forecast for the year. Founder and CEO Forrest Li noted an increasingly uncertain market environment and stressed the need to prioritise profitability and efficiency. Sea reported a net loss of US$931 million in the second quarter, more than double the loss it made in the same period a year earlier.

"Their tone has never been more pessimistic," said Ke Yan, lead analyst at Singapore-based DZT Research, who added that Sea's strategy of using Garena's cash flow to compensate for Shopee's cash burn was unsustainable.

Sea's handling of the layoffs was "ugly and embarrassing" and likely to hurt its reputation, he said.

Sea saw its market value soar to more than US$200 billion last October as its Garena unit surged in popularity during the pandemic but its shares have tumbled since then and are now worth just US$27 billion.

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower said relevant authorities were aware of complaints about Shopee and it was in touch with the company to find out more, but it also said in such situations the parties should work out an amicable solution in good faith.

The four people interviewed by Reuters said that as compensation Shopee has offered a month's salary and in cases where people have flown from abroad, it will reimburse the cost of flight tickets and temporary accommodation.

While the potential for legal action has been discussed in the WeChat Group, those left hanging by Shopee are most concerned with finding new work.

"The cost of taking legal action is too high. I just want to move on and find a new job," said one of the four people interviewed by Reuters who declined to be identified.

For his part, Wang wants to continue his job search in Singapore.

"The cost of returning to China is too huge, it is very hard to find a new job given the economic situation there," he said.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/singapore-e-commerce-shopee-sea-rescind-job-offers-2022-2922961

Chinese engineer flies to Singapore for job at e-commerce giant Shopee but offer is cancelled when he lands at Changi Airport

HONG KONG — Shopee, operator of the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, has cancelled a number of employment offers last minute, which gained attention in China when one worker posted his plight on WeChat after arriving in Singapore.

“I landed with my wife and dog and was told my offer [from Shopee] was cancelled while I was still at the airport,” a user going by “Lin Ge goes to Nanyang” wrote on his official WeChat account over the weekend.

The cuts from Shopee, owned by Tencent Holdings-backed Sea Limited, have largely affected technology positions in Singapore, where the company is based. Sea is one of many tech companies around the world cutting back amid a slowing global economy and fears of recession.

The company confirmed to the Post it cancelled some tech roles. “Due to adjustments to hiring plans on some tech teams, a number of roles at Shopee are no longer available. We are working closely to support those affected,” Sea said in a statement.

Shopee is offering compensation of one month’s salary and travel expenses to those affected, according to a source close to company who declined to be named as the information is not public.

“Going back to three days ago, I might not have believed it,” Mr Lin Ge said in his WeChat post.

“This WeChat official account was created on May 17, 2022, to share my life in Singapore and algorithm technology. But it turns out my first article is about my unemployment, job hunting and how to negotiate compensation.”

Mr Lin Ge’s story has attracted wide attention on Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Maimai, with some users sharing similar experiences. “Three days before officially joining Shopee, I received a notice that my offer had been cancelled,” one person wrote on Maimai, a professional networking site that rivals Microsoft’s LinkedIn. The post attracted hundreds of comments and reposts.

Other areas of Shopee have also been affected by cutbacks this year. In June, the company laid off workers from its food delivery and payment arms, in addition to reducing staff in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, according to media reports, citing an internal email from CEO Chris Feng.

Sea reported widening losses in the second quarter amid many market challenges. Net losses more than doubled to US$931.2 million (S$1.3 billion), 42 per cent higher than consensus estimates of US$655 million, according to Refinitiv data.

Singapore has become one of the most popular destinations for Chinese workers looking to flee a slowing economy at home and strict Covid-19 control measures that are still in effect. After the Shanghai lockdown earlier this year, Mr Huang Yimeng, the billionaire co-founder of video gaming giant XD, said he is relocating abroad with his family next year.

The city state has also become increasingly attractive to some Chinese companies. Shein, a Nanjing-based fast-fashion e-commerce company that primarily operates overseas, has been ploughing resources into Singapore. Founder and CEO Chris Xu became a permanent resident.

Other Big Tech firms in China have been “optimising” their workforces to contend with the economic slowdown. Tencent downsized its workforce for the first time since 2014, trimming nearly 5,500 employees from its payroll in the second quarter. That same quarter, smartphone maker Xiaomi cut more than 900 jobs, nearly 3 per cent of its workforce, according to its earnings report.

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3190793/chinese-engineer-cut-shopee-after-landing-singapore-goes-viral-wechat

Tech firms laying off staff to 'consolidate' as funding dries up, say analysts

SINGAPORE: After a race for growth in a boom market, many tech firms are now "consolidating", one of the key reasons there have been layoffs at a number of technology companies, analysts told CNA.

In the United States, more than 35,000 workers have been retrenched in the last six months, according to Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking tech layoffs. But this is a small number compared to the total IT workforce there, said Associate Professor Damien Joseph from the Nanyang Business School's division of Information Technology & Operations Management.

Big names in the US tech sector that have shed staff this year include Coinbase, Peloton, Netflix and Paypal.

In Singapore, Shopee is laying off some employees in its food delivery and online payment teams in Southeast Asia. It is also cutting staff in Mexico, Argentina and Chile, as well as a cross-border team supporting the Spanish market.

At one point, Singapore-based Sea Ltd – Shopee's parent company – was said to be Southeast Asia’s most valuable company, before its valuation collapsed after a US tech selloff. In recent months, Shopee has withdrawn from India and France, and is closing its early-stage pilot in Spain.

While Sea Ltd is one of the biggest losers in current market conditions, it's not the only one to suffer.

Tesla laid off its Singapore country manager Christopher Bousigues after chief executive Elon Musk warned he could cut 10 per cent of jobs worldwide due to fears of an upcoming recession.

Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com cut 260 employees or 5 per cent of its corporate workforce as the digital currency market slumped, while robot investor Stashaway laid off 31 employees across five markets. A spokesperson from StashAway said that in the past few months, the world’s economic situation has "changed significantly and abruptly, with the fight on inflation triggering fear of a global recession".

"This change has impacted the public capital markets, with tech companies being particularly affected. The impact is not unique to StashAway, and our goal is to stay ahead of market dynamics," said the spokesperson.

StashAway added that despite layoffs, it has expanded the investment team and will launch new products over the next few months.

Assoc Prof Joseph said that many of these companies expanded very quickly during the pandemic, and are now "consolidating ahead of an expected recession". At the same time, liquidity is drying up in Asia, and as venture capital funding is more challenging to secure, start-ups are closing.

"To the extent that these lay-offs are concentrated in global companies, Singapore may not be spared," he said. "The question is the value-add local operations make to the strategies of these global firms."

Ms Yorlin Ng, COO of Momentum Works, a firm that builds and manages tech ventures, said no one knows how long the bearish outlook will last. It would be prudent and necessary for these firms to "adjust their priorities to this changing landscape", she said.

"In a boom market where capital was cheap, everyone raced for growth because if they did not, their competitors would.

"When market sentiment shifted, some companies were forced to make cuts and compromise their growth; some companies were prudent to prepare for the unpredictable future; while some others might be just using external factors as a better excuse to trim costs."

She added that companies in the US public market, like Grab and Sea Group, hold significant cash reserves and should be able to ride through this wave "in one piece".

Early-stage tech companies would also see little impact as venture capital investors in the region have enough "dry powder" stocked up. "The real challenge will be for the companies in the growth stage where profitability is still far away, and significant organisational adjustments are needed to switch gears," she said.

More at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/retrench-layoff-tech-company-shopee-tesla-crypto-startup-jobs-2749656

Shopee lays off staff in food delivery, online payment teams in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE — E-commerce giant Shopee will lay off some employees in its food delivery ShopeeFood and online payment ShopeePay teams in Southeast Asia.

It will also cut staff in Mexico, Argentina and Chile, as well as a cross-border team supporting the Spanish market, according to a company memo seen by CNA.

The memo, dated June 13, was sent out by Shopee's group president Chris Feng.

"Given elevated uncertainty in the broader economy, we believe that it is prudent to make certain difficult but important adjustments to enhance our operational efficiency and focus our resources," he wrote.

"This is to ensure that, as a business, we remain in the best possible position to continue scaling sustainably and, ultimately, to win."

Mr Feng said the decision to cut employee numbers in those teams was made to "optimise our operations in certain segments and markets".

He also said Shopee will close its early-stage pilot in Spain, after announcing plans to launch online sales in the country last October.

The e-commerce platform owned by Singapore-based Sea Limited withdrew from India’s retail market in March, months after starting operations there.

It was the second pullback that month in an overseas expansion drive after Shopee exited from France.

In the memo, Mr Feng said businesses will continue operating as usual in Shopee Mexico, Argentina, Chile, as well as ShopeeFood and ShopeePay in Southeast Asia.

“We are committed to providing the same level of support to our users, partners and merchants in all these markets,” he added.

“This was a very difficult decision to make, and I know that this will have a major impact on affected team members and their families. We will do the very best we can to support them through this transition."

He did not reveal how many employees were affected by the layoffs. CNA has contacted Shopee for more information.

Addressing teams that are not impacted, Mr Feng said: “This reallocation of resources to further focus on our priorities will help us grow our business even better. While we need to continue to optimise our efficiency, we are also generally still growing and hiring as needed to support that growth.”

The layoffs come after Sea beat quarterly revenue estimates last month, driven by improvements in its core e-commerce business in Southeast Asia and Latin America, sending its shares up more than 5 per cent in pre-market trade.

Total revenue at the New York-listed company rose 64.4 per cent to US$2.90 billion (S$4 billion) in the first quarter ended Mar 31, above analysts' average estimate of US$2.76 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/shopee-lays-staff-food-delivery-online-payment-teams-southeast-asia-1924811

I won't be surprised if the Lion City Sailors also start retrenching its players and coaches soon after.

Sea’s Billionaire CEO Opens Up After 75% Stock Crash

Last Monday, Sea Ltd. employees were starting their week when an email from Chief Executive Officer Forrest Li arrived. In the 900-word memo, the billionaire adopted a contrite tone, addressing head-on a $150 billion plunge in his company’s value since late 2021.

“This drop is painful, and you might be feeling frustrated, disheartened, or worried about Sea’s future,” the 44-year-old wrote in his email seen by Bloomberg News, sent company-wide the first working day after Sea notched its third-biggest stock decline. “Do not fear: we are in a strong position internally, and we are clear on our next steps. This is short-term pain that we have to endure to truly maximize our long-term potential.”

Li’s missive was unusual and underscores changes underway at the gaming and e-commerce giant. In recent years, with the business growing rapidly, the founder addressed his troops mainly to celebrate key milestones. But after a run of extraordinary setbacks this year -- including India’s abrupt ban of its most popular mobile game -- the company is showing signs of acceding to demands from shareholders and employees for more openness.

Global investors that rode a 2,300% rally from 2017 to 2021 had long been content to let Sea go about its business. That began to change in November, when a disappointing quarterly report prompted a bout of profit-taking. The selloff quickened in January when biggest backer Tencent Holdings Ltd. announced it was selling part of its stake, then accelerated with India’s ban in February before culminating in horrendous quarterly earnings this month.

All told, Sea lost three-quarters of its value in five months. The stock was down another 3.4% in pre-market trading Monday in New York.

Fund managers in recent months began to urge Sea to be more transparent about its strategy and numbers, according to people familiar with the matter. During an earnings call this month, Li made unusually long and detailed remarks. He rarely talks about his ambitions at public forums, deferring communications to Group Chief Corporate Officer Yanjun Wang, a tight-lipped lawyer.

During the call, Sea provided new and more specific data including its first annual guidance for financial-services arm SeaMoney and unit economics for online-shopping arm Shopee in Brazil, as well as for Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

“If not for the declining share prices, Sea might not have disclosed so many metrics,” said Kelvin Seetoh, a shareholder and co-founder of Singapore-based investor group 10X Capital. “They could be doing this to allow investors to understand their business better and it’s not too late.”

Sea said additional disclosures reflect the growth and evolution of the business. “As our businesses continue to grow and evolve around the world, we continue to share relevant information about those changes and our performance consistent with our long-standing commitment to our investors,” the company said in a statement to Bloomberg News.

Employees, too, are requesting more information. In early March, Singapore-based consulting startup Momentum Academy organized a webinar enticingly titled “Off the Record -- Behind Shopee’s Doors” to discuss inner workings at the Sea unit. Among the more than 400 people attending were Shopee employees, eager to hear from the researchers with no ties to the company.

The pressure has triggered an internal debate among some teams as to how much the company should share publicly, said the people, who asked not to be named as the matter is private.

A lot more at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-14/sea-s-secretive-billionaire-ceo-opens-up-after-75-stock-crash

Leecession coming soon! WLWLSMDWL!!

Serves it right for blasting 'em utterly cringeworthy ads time and again.

This is extremely good news, tonight confirm can sleep well!