Alibaba says no to layoffs, continues recruitment

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said it will continue to recruit new employees this year amid a string of layoff plans sweeping across the internet sector.

In an internal meeting with management on Thursday, Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said instead of layoffs, the company plans to increase investment in talent and strengthen its talent training program.

The company also pledged to devote more resources to its multiple platforms to help businesses navigate the current environment and create more job opportunities overall.

“We should continue to utilize the resources on our platforms to boost domestic consumption, bringing in more manufacturing and service orders," Zhang said. "The biggest value of having a platform-based economy like Alibaba is to create more job opportunities, especially when the economy is challenging."

Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial Services Group currently have over 100,000 employees, according to its latest financial report.

The announcement came as major Chinese internet players either confirmed or were rumored to lay off employees to trim costs and adjust corporate structure.

For instance, JD is planning to lay off 10 percent of its senior executives above vice-president level this year, whereas DiDi Chuxing is reported to lay off 15 percent of its staff, around 2,000 employees, in 2019.