Lazada SG reportedly lays off staff

Regional eCommerce firm Lazada has reportedly laid off an undisclosed number of its local employees as it streamlines its way of working to meet future business needs.

According to The Straits Times (ST), it was not disclosed how many staff members were affected and if they had received a severance package. 

Lazada told ST that it was necessary to make "proactive adjustments" to transform its workforce and to better position itself for a more agile and streamlined way of working in order to meet future business needs.

It added in its statement to ST that the transformation necessitates that it reassesses its workforce requirements and operational structure to ensure that they can future-proof the business and people. 

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This reportedly comes shortly after an initial round of layoffs in October 2023. Lazada also saw the departure of its CEO in Singapore, Wee-Lee Loh recently in August last year. Loh was with the company for just under five years. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for more information. 

Lazada has a presence in six countries across Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. In 2016, Alibaba Group Holding acquired a stake in it to expand its presence in the region and Lazada became a subsidiary of the Chinese tech company. 

The news comes as Alibaba Group Holding’s international online shopping unit reportedly mulls a potential US initial public offering (IPO) to increase growth for the business. 

As of May last year, the firm was in the early stages of consideration. However, the IPO's size has yet to be determined, according to ST. 

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