JD.com, Bilibili trigger outcry after dismissals rebranded as ‘graduations’ amid wave of job cuts
- While it is common for large firms to describe lay-offs as business ‘optimisation’, the term ‘graduation’ in pink slips handed out by JD.com and Bilibili has stirred anger
- The controversy has erupted at a time when job security in the workplace is in doubt due to widespread job cuts or headcount freezes in China’s tech industry
“Sorry, you are terminated” has been replaced by “congratulations, you graduated” in dismissal notices issued by some Chinese technology companies, sparking controversy amid ongoing job cuts in the sector.
While it is common practice among large companies to describe lay-offs as business “optimisation”, the use of the term “graduation” in pink slips handed out by e-commerce giant JD.com and video website Bilibili has stirred anger after some fired employees published their dismissal notices on social media.
The controversy has erupted at a time when job security in the workplace is in doubt due to widespread job cuts or headcount freezes in China’s tech industry, although few Chinese tech firms refer to large scale job cuts as lay-offs because that often invites the intervention of labour authorities and is seen as a sign of market weakness.
Bilibili sees losses more than double amid fierce competition
A termination letter sent to dismissed JD.com employees offered “congratulations on your successful graduation” from the company, and provided details on how to handle social security issues, employment records and other personnel matters. Bilibili’s dismissal letter was titled “graduation day”, and provided instructions on similar human resources issues.
The authenticity of the letters was confirmed by current and former employees of the companies, but they said the phrases were default content that applied to everyone who left, including those who resigned voluntarily.
Referring to work colleagues as “school mates” is part of the culture at many Chinese tech firms, including TikTok owner ByteDance, to reflect a flatter organisation with fewer levels of middle management between staff and senior executives.
JD.com and Bilibili did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lay-offs at JD.com were mainly at its group-buying business Jingxi, which competed with budget e-commerce site Pinduoduo in lower-tier cities. Jingxi is expected to let go of 10 to 15 per cent of its employees, equal to about 400 to 600 people, according to local media 36Kr.
Didi Chuxing cuts jobs as unresolved cybersecurity probe bruises business
A JD.com business unit that handled sales of books, pet products and cross-border e-commerce on the company’s main site also planned to cut staff by 15 to 20 per cent, 36Kr reported.
Bilibili’s lay-offs began late last year and primarily affected its gaming unit, where nearly 20 per cent of staff were sacked, according to Chinese media The Paper.
In 2021, JD.com reported an operational profit of 4.1 billion yuan (US$600 million), a year-on-year decrease of 66.7 per cent, although its net revenues grew 27.6 per cent to 951.6 billion yuan.
Bilibili’s net losses more than doubled to 6.8 billion yuan last year. Total net revenues increased 62 per cent to 19.4 billion yuan, but revenue from mobile games rose only 6 per cent.
Some social media users were angry at the use of the term “graduation”. One Weibo user named Shuaishixiong said sarcastically that JD.com was “too merciful” because it paid employees but “did not ask them for tuition fees”. Another user named Maoxiaogun asked why an employee who gets sacked should be congratulated.
Others, however, accepted the term. Weibo user Nann said that everyone who left JD.com was called a “graduate”, regardless of whether they were fired or resigned. “Doesn’t the work experience that one received before lay-off count as personal growth ?” she asked.
The practice of calling dismissals graduations is not limited to China’s tech industry. As early as 2016, an opinion piece in The New York Times referred to a US software developer that used the same term when firing staff.
Beijing’s year-long campaign to clip the wings of China’s Big Tech sector has taken a heavy toll and is now casting a long shadow over the employment market.
Chinese regulators have launched a relentless crackdown on big tech firms, with new rules designed to curb consumer rights abuses, monopolistic practices and breaches of consumer data privacy, as well as aiming to protect minors from gaming addiction and restricting content deemed socially harmful.
The crackdowns have mostly been framed as moves to “curb the irrational expansion of capital”.
