Sea Limited is trimming staff in its money-making gaming arm to rein in costs. It is the e-commerce giant's second round of job cuts this year, following a string of setbacks that is forcing the company to shift its focus away from unbridled growth to profitability.
South-east Asia's largest tech firm is planning to reduce headcount in its most profitable division Garena and in new ventures at its research and development arm, according to people familiar with the matter. About 40 jobs will be cut from its game live stream app Booyah!, including in teams involved in product management and quality assurance, the people said.
The Singapore-based company is also shuttering several of its experimental ventures at research and development unit Sea Labs, the people said. It will let go about a dozen employees working in areas such as public cloud and blockchain, one person said.
Its e-commerce platform Shopee has rescinded a number of job offers for positions at its Singapore headquarters, including for someone who had already flown here to take up a new role, The Straits Times reported on Thursday.
"We continue to focus on the long-term strength of our ecosystem. In line with this, we have made some changes to improve efficiency in our operations that impact a number of roles," Sea said in an e-mailed statement.
Reuters first reported the job cuts. Sea had 67,300 employees as at the end of 2021, double its headcount the year before, according to the company's most recent annual report.
The tech giant is now scaling back its overseas footprint and periphery businesses as rising competition and investor scepticism force the company to shift focus towards boosting profitability, rather than on expanding abroad. Sea in June made its first major job cuts at Shopee.
The company faces increasing pressure to cut costs, with growth in its main e-commerce business slowing after a pandemic-era high. Consumers are pulling back on spending online as rising interest rates and prices weigh on the economy.
Sea has lost almost US$170 billion (S$238.4 billion) of its market value since an October high, on questions about its money-making prospects. The company said it expected Garena to post its first decline in bookings this year, and, last month, it withdrew its 2022 e-commerce forecast.
E-commerce rival Lazada Group has been stepping up its investments across South-east Asia and seeks to build on momentum in the region to expand in Europe. This week, Lazada's Chinese parent, Alibaba Group Holding, said it invested US$913 million in its South-east Asian arm, taking the year's capital influx to US$1.3 billion.
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