Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings slashed 1,879 jobs in the third quarter after cutting 5,500 jobs in the previous quarter, continuing to shrink its workforce as it faces scrutiny from Beijing and a slowing economy.
Tencent had 108,836 employees by the end of September, the company revealed in its earnings on Wednesday. It was 1.7 per cent lower than the payroll size of 110,715 employees in the previous quarter, but up 1.4 per cent from the 107,348 employees it had in the same period last year. The social media and video gaming giant has cut a total of 7,377 jobs since staff numbers peaked in the first quarter.
Tencent’s headcount continues to shrink after multiple rounds of lay-offs earlier this year as part of the company’s cost-cutting efforts in the face of economic and regulatory headwinds that have hit key businesses including gaming and advertising.