Tencent said to fire or demote around 10 pct of middle managers amid company-wide revamp
- Move is aimed at removing or demoting underperforming managers
- Tencent is among China’s tech giants revamping management ranks as they enter their third decade of operations
Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings is revamping its managerial ranks by removing 10 per cent of middle-to-senior tier managers as part of a previously flagged company reorganisation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move is aimed at removing or demoting underperforming managers, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
A Tencent spokesman declined to comment on the job cuts.
Tencent president Martin Lau Chi-ping said at a town hall meeting with employees in November that it would need a certain percentage of managers to stand down. “Tencent cannot make managerial roles lifelong positions. If you are competent, you will be promoted soon, but when you are tired, you have to move down,” Lau said.
Tencent, the world’s biggest games publisher by revenue and operator of China’s dominant social media platform WeChat, has also pledged to promote young talent in a bid to refresh its managerial ranks and maintain dynamism within the company.
“We will ensure that at least one in five promotions each year go to younger talent,” Tencent founder and chief executive Pony Ma Huateng said in a separate staff meeting when the Shenzhen-based company celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.
The current low proportion of young talent in middle management surprised Tencent’s senior executives when they found out, said senior vice-president Guo Kaitian, quoted by Hardcore Story, an official WeChat account that has a content partnership with Guyu Studio, which is operated by Tencent.
Tencent is among a crop of Chinese technology giants, including search operator Baidu and e-commerce leaders Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com, that have revamped their management ranks as they enter their third decade of operations. These firms are also looking at ways to maintain their competitive edge as a new crop of challengers emerges in China, such as short video and news app operator ByteDance and group buying site Pinduoduo, and amid a cooler economy.
JD.com, the country’s second largest e-commerce services provider, last month confirmed reports that it will fire underperforming senior executives, saying it would lay off 10 per cent of its management at vice-president level and above in 2019, using the “rank and yank” approach. This strategy usually forces department heads to identify and fire their least productive staff.
Baidu pledged to promote more employees in their 20s and 30s to management as part of efforts to speed up leadership renewal and Zhang Yaqin, 53, its president of new business, opted for early retirement as part of the plan.
Smaller players in China’s tech field are feeling the chill of a cooling venture capital market. Chinese ride-hailing services giant Didi Chuxing in February said it will eliminate about 2,000 jobs, kicking off one of the biggest rounds of cutbacks in China’s technology sector.
Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
