Tencent lays off 5500 employees after posting first y-o-y decline in revenues

22 Aug 2022 , 11:48 AM

Chinese corporation Tencent has laid off 5,500 workers after reporting $19.8 billion in revenue for the June quarter, a 3% decrease that was the company’s first drop in sales since going public.

According to the South China Morning Post, the country’s biggest video game and social media company cut over 5,500 jobs in the second quarter due to the weakening economy.

Tencent has reduced its staff for the first time since 2014, bringing the total to 110,715 by the end of June, from 116,213 in March.

Pony Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent, said: “During the second quarter, we actively divested non-core businesses, reduced our marketing budget, and trimmed operating expenses, enabling us to sequentially raise our non-IFRS earnings, despite adverse sales conditions.”