Sea Ltd. is making its first major job cuts in areas spanning shopping and food, joining other tech firms downsizing this year in anticipation of unprecedented market and economic volatility.
Southeast Asia’s largest tech firm plans to let employees go across its e-commerce division Shopee, Chris Feng, the unit’s chief executive, said in an email to employees seen by Bloomberg News. It will reduce headcount across its ShopeeFood and ShopeePay divisions in Southeast Asia. The cuts will also extend across its Mexico, Argentina, and Chile teams, as well as the cross-border team supporting Spain.
Sea faces increasing pressure to slash costs as growth in its main commerce business comes off a pandemic-era high. While mobile gaming has proven more resilient, the company has lost about US$160 billion ($222.77 billion) of its market value since an October high as investors begin to scrutinise its longer-term trajectory.
