Tencent’s cost-cutting not over as video gaming and social media giant slashes jobs, cancels free fruit in staff canteen
- Shrinking second-quarter revenue and profit at Tencent are a reminder that the Chinese tech giant’s heyday is over
- Tencent has also shut down a number of ‘noncore businesses’ in recent months, including online education and video game live-streaming
Chinese video gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings will continue cost-cutting after slashing about 5,500 jobs in the second quarter, according to company executives who spoke after the firm reported its first revenue fall on record.
Shrinking second-quarter revenue and profit at Tencent, which was known for owning “half the mountains and rivers” in China’s tech sector, provide a reminder its heyday is over amid China’s economic slowdown and Beijing’s regulatory scrutiny.
Alibaba Group Holding, the Chinese e-commerce giant that owns the South China Morning Post, cut its headcount by nearly 10,000 in the June quarter.
Tencent’s second-quarter results come as the Shenzhen-based company withdraws certain minor employee benefits, a further sign of how serious it takes cost cutting. Company canteens will no longer provide free fruit to employees starting this week, a move that came days after it cancelled free breakfasts and dinners for non-staff employees on its campus, according to employees.