Alibaba has encountered a lot of things over the years, and like the major Internet giants, it is actively adjusting its business sectors and replanning its development strategy. This includes promoting the interconnection of various platforms and providing more choices for merchants.
Not only that, Ali has also fallen into a layoff storm. In the fourth year of Ma's departure, Ali laid off more than 19,000 people, what signal does this send?
As one of the largest Internet giants in China, Alibaba is in the limelight, and every news news will attract widespread attention. What's more, Ali has become the focus of various topics in the past few years, making Ali unable to keep a low profile.
So Ali has been trying to adjust his posture, and the good side is that Ali has achieved certain results.
According to Alibaba's report for the third fiscal quarter of fiscal 2023, revenue in the fiscal quarter was 247.76 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2%. The net profit was 46.815 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 138%. Such results can be said to be very good, as if Alibaba has completely on the right track to find a suitable way out for future development.
But it wasn't that simple, as Alibaba's workforce plummeted.
Looking at Alibaba's annual financial report, there were still 259316 employees by the end of 2021, but by the end of 2022, the number of employees was reduced to 239,740. In just one year, Ali laid off 19,576 people. Layoffs are a common personnel change in a company, but if the number of layoffs reaches a certain level, you can see the general direction of the company's operation. Maybe some people are curious, didn't Ali hand over a brilliant financial report? Explain that with solid revenue, why are more than 19,000 people laid off?
Perhaps the steady growth of revenue has something to do with layoffs, and Alibaba's performance report for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 was not good before the release of the third quarter report. Alibaba's financial report shows that in the second fiscal quarter, Ali's revenue was 207.176 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3%, but the net loss reached 22.467 billion yuan.
In the fourth year since Ma Yun left, the number of Alibaba's layoffs continued to expand to more than 19,000, what signal does this send? It may release a signal that Alibaba is taking the route of reducing costs and increasing efficiency, improving profit efficiency, and stabilizing the revenue system.
During 2022, the operating keywords of many Internet companies are basically "reducing costs and increasing efficiency". Due to the impact of public health events, consumer demand has declined, and the GMV data of Internet e-commerce platforms has dropped significantly.
Coupled with the sluggish pace of global economic development, layoffs in large factories have become a norm, and cost reduction and efficiency improvement have become the unified business philosophy of large factories.
In fact, it can also be understood that the business development is general, and without a stable source of revenue, then the company is unlikely to idle jobs, and can only lay off unnecessary business departments.
After the layoffs, Ali withstood the pressure and delivered a brilliant report card in the third fiscal quarter, achieving positive year-on-year growth in revenue and profit. In particular, the growth rate of net profit has reached the level of 138%, and if this trend continues, it will be able to give the capital market a satisfactory answer in the fourth fiscal quarter and even the entire fiscal year 2023.
However, layoffs are only temporary, and if companies want to go far and achieve a stable revenue structure, they cannot keep laying off employees. Otherwise, in the end, the most core human resources hole card is gone. When recruitment is carried out again, it will face a lot of competition.
Layoffs are a palliative, not a cure, and in the final analysis, it is necessary to start with the business itself.
70% of Alibaba's revenue comes from e-commerce platforms, which is the top priority to stabilize the revenue system, and with other business segments, Ali has a huge business layout.
In addition, Alibaba is also actively deploying innovative businesses, exploring market potential in community group buying and localized life services. Because it is an innovative business, and the major competitors are flocking to it, the competition is fierce. Burning money in the early stage is necessary, and whether it can stabilize the market foothold depends on the operation strategy in the middle and later stages.
In addition, don't forget that Ali also has to raise a pure scientific research institution, the Dharma Academy. Alibaba's chairman Daniel Zhang said that DAMO Academy is not for profit, but will firmly adhere to long-term research and development work.
This means that Ali has completely invested money at the DAMO Academy to feed, and the DAMO Academy cannot actually participate in the commercial layout by engaging in scientific research. Of course, if the research and development results of DAMO Academy can be transformed into practical applications, it may help Ali improve its technological competitive advantage, which is not worth the investment.
Jack Ma has a goal for Alibaba, which is to become a company that spans three centuries. Ali was founded in 1999, and if it is to span three centuries, it needs to develop to 2101, a full 102 years.
This is a lofty goal, Ali has only been 24 years now, and there is still a long way to go. It is hoped that Ali understands that reducing costs and increasing efficiency by laying off employees is not a long-term solution, but also needs to start from the people of Huili, provide high-quality service guarantees for domestic and foreign people, and create greater social value.
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