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Tencent-backed tech firm Sea declares 5 per cent pay rise for most employees, signalling a strong rebound in e-commerce, video gaming
- Workers who joined Sea on or before March 31 will get the salary bump, according to company founder, chairman and chief executive Forrest Li
- The across-the-board pay increase marks a reversal from just a couple of quarters ago, when Sea implemented a companywide salary freeze and lay-offs
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The billionaire founder of Singapore-based tech conglomerate Sea has declared a 5 per cent pay increase for most employees starting July, sending a strong signal to investors he thinks the e-commerce and video gaming business has turned the corner after years of bleeding losses.
Workers who joined the company on or before March 31 will get the salary bump, Forrest Li said on Monday in a memo to employees seen by Bloomberg News. He said Sea has reached “self-sufficiency” as its cash balance is now increasing rather than shrinking every quarter, a goal it achieved months ahead of a target set last year.
The across-the-board pay rise marks a reversal from just a couple of quarters ago, when Li surprised investors with a companywide salary freeze and deep lay-offs.
The Tencent Holdings-backed Southeast Asian internet leader’s about-face may presage a broader recovery for the region’s technology sector, which like elsewhere has endured deep job losses and downward-spiralling valuations after a Covid-19-era online spending boom sputtered out in 2022.
Sea reported its first-ever quarterly net profit in March, about 14 years after its founding. The company took brutal measures last year to convince investors of its profit-making ability, including cutting thousands of jobs, retreating from major markets and slashing more than US$700 million from its quarterly sales and marketing expenses.
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