The Hammer to Drop on as much as 30% of All Lazada Employees

• Alibaba’s Lazada will cut up to 30% of Southeast Asian staff this week in a major downsizing effort.
• Cuts will impact customer service, marketing, and other departments.
• The large workforce reduction signals Lazada is strategically streamlining as parent Alibaba weighs listing its international commerce arm.

Workforce reduction

Lazada, Alibaba’s Southeast Asian e-commerce arm, will cut up to 30% of employees across regional markets in a significant downsizing effort this week.

Impact and anticipated changes

Sources say retrenchments will impact staff in customer service, marketing, and other departments.

The cuts follow earlier layoffs last October and come amid a leadership vacuum, with Lazada Singapore operating sans a communications team after its CEO exited last summer.

According to reports, Malaysian employees are next informed of job losses today. Senior managers there are already pursuing new opportunities, anticipating restructuring.

Strategic streamlining

Founded in 2012, Lazada became a top online retailer in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam before being acquired by Alibaba in 2016.

The impending workforce reduction, affecting up to nearly one-third of headcount, signals Lazada is streamlining operations as parent company Alibaba reportedly weighs a potential US stock listing of its international e-commerce business this year.