China’s Tencent starts new round of layoffs, claim sources

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has begun a new round of job cuts targeted at its video streaming, gaming and cloud businesses, four sources close to the matter said.

The sources said the layoffs affect three out of Tencent’s six business divisions – platform and content (PCG), which comprises of its video and news platforms, its gaming-focused interactive entertainment department (IEG) and cloud and smart industries group (CSIG).

Two of the sources said some staff in IEG were informed last week they were being laid off. Tencent declined to comment. Reuters was not able to establish the scale of the job losses. China’s technology sector continues to feel the effects of a regulatory crackdown and headwinds from zero-COVID measures that have slowed the broader economy. Tencent already cut jobs earlier this year, alongside peers, including Alibaba Group and smaller Chinese tech companies such as Xiaohongshu. In August, Tencent disclosed its employee numbers fell to 110,715 by the end of June from 116,213 in March.