Shopee, the Amazon of Asia, has laid off around 7,000 employees in the last 6 months, after latest cuts: report

• Shopee laid off around 100 employees on Monday, adding up to around 7,000 jobs cut in the last six months, per Bloomberg.
• Affected roles include those in HR, recruitment, training, and employee relationship management.

Ecommerce giant Shopee, the Amazon of Asia, has slashed around 7,000 jobs in the last six months alone, after latest cuts saw around 100 staffers being laid off, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

On Monday, a number of Shopee employees in Singapore and China received marching orders via emails, Bloomberg said. Affected teams include staff involved with HR, training, recruitment and employee relationship management.

Sources also told The Straits Times that the latest round of layoffs was more low-key compared to the layoffs that happened in September. And though people were not forewarned, rumours of further cuts had been swirling for some time.

A multimedia associate at Shopee detailed in a LinkedIn post on Monday that she was informed of the layoffs in an urgent meeting that day, and was then sent an email with the words "Your role is impacted."

The staffer, who wrote that her entire team was affected by the layoffs, said in the post she had an "uneasy feeling of uncertainty" ever since a large swathe of Shopee's workforce was laid off in September.

Shopee parent Sea Limited — which employed more than 67,000 people at the end of 2021 — let go a low single-digit percentage of employees on September 19. It previously ceased operations in India, France, and certain Latin American markets.

Sea Limited's share prices have plummeted around 87% from its 2021 peak. The company reported a loss of $931.20 million in the second quarter of 2022, following two consecutive quarters of losses. It will be releasing its third quarter results on November 15.

"As part of the previously communicated exercise to optimize operating efficiency, we continue to carefully review our business projects and priorities in line with our goal of achieving self-sufficiency," a Sea Limited spokesperson said in a statement to Insider.

Shopee chief executive Forrest Li had written a memo to employees a few days before the major layoffs in September, detailing that the company's top objective for the next 12-18 months would be achieving self-sufficiency.

"Now that global conditions have changed, we too must adapt. Reining in costs will be an important priority, not just for us, but across the industry," Li wrote at the time.