In the historical process of scientific and technological development, Alibaba was once known as the most representative "Chinese Internet technology empire". Shockingly, however, not long ago, the once-glorious tech giant announced a major decision – mass layoffs, laying off up to 14,369 employees.
This is undoubtedly jaw-dropping news. As a unique technology boss in China, how did Alibaba get to such a difficult situation today? What happened to this tech kingdom to get to where it is?
Looking back at Alibaba's development history, it is not difficult to find that this is the key moment when the company is moving towards a turning point. From the suspension of Ant Financial's IPO in November 2020, to the heavy antitrust penalties imposed in 2021, to today's large-scale layoffs, Alibaba has experienced a series of major blows and setbacks.
These changes have undoubtedly had a great impact on the once powerful tech giant. In the past year or so, Alibaba's revenue and profit have shown a gradual decline, and net profit in fiscal 2023 has plummeted by 96% year-on-year. What was once glorious is now elusive.
In this difficult situation, Alibaba's top management had to make a series of difficult choices. The layoffs are one of the most high-profile moves. This kind of "heart booster" struggle has undoubtedly made the outside world inevitably have great worries about the former tech giant.
What happened to put Alibaba in such a deep predicament? What's the story behind this?
The road to the fall of Jack Ma's kingdom
To fully understand the underlying reasons why Alibaba is in such a situation, we must look back at the company's entire journey from rise to demise.
In November 2020, the IPO of Alibaba's subsidiary Ant Financial was halted, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow. The incident was seen as the trigger for Alibaba's decline.
Just before that, in 2019, Ma Yun was still proudly declaring that "the new era belongs to us". Who would have thought that just one year later, Alibaba would suffer such a heavy blow.
For more than a year, Alibaba continued to take a hit. was first heavily fined by the anti-monopoly as high as 18.2 billion yuan, and then the stock price plummeted, and the market value shrank by more than half. What was once a tech empire is now weak.
And now in the first quarter of 2024, Alibaba has to make an astonishing decision - large-scale layoffs, laying off up to 14,369 employees. This undoubtedly caused a huge shock in the industry.
You must know that as the most representative technology giant in China, Alibaba used to be called the kingdom created by Jack Ma. Under his leadership, the company has grown rapidly and become a dark horse on the technology map in China and even in the world.
But now this kingdom is on the verge of falling. The loss of Ant Financial, an important pillar of service, coupled with the government's severe crackdown, has put Alibaba in an unprecedented predicament.
In this regard, industry insiders generally believe that this kind of layoff is undoubtedly the last struggle of Ali's top management forced to take the "heart booster" in desperation. Although this method can alleviate the company's operating pressure in the short term, to truly get out of the predicament, Alibaba needs to fundamentally solve its own deep-seated problems.
The tech kingdom is in limbo with heavy expectations
To understand why Alibaba is in such a difficult situation, we have to go back to the heavy expectations that the company has had from the beginning.
Ma Yun has repeatedly made bold statements, declaring that "the new era belongs to us". Under his leadership, Alibaba has indeed become a dark horse on the Chinese Internet and even the global technology map. The company's vigorous development has also become a microcosm of China's technological rise.
But what followed was tremendous pressure and hope from all sides. As the most influential technology company in China, Alibaba has been placed on too many social expectations and missions.
Whether it is driving the vigorous development of domestic e-commerce or bravely taking on the important task of helping small and medium-sized enterprises in digital transformation, Alibaba is regarded as the representative and leader of China's Internet innovation.
Under this pressure, Alibaba's development trajectory has gradually deviated from the business logic of a normal enterprise. Jack Ma's "do whatever you want" radical expansion has indeed allowed Ali to grow rapidly in a short period of time, but it has also buried the hidden danger of future collapse.
Business models in the era of "traffic anxiety" are unsustainable
Since the suspension of Ant Financial's IPO in November 2020, Alibaba has been hit a series of hard times. This is not only a blow to the company itself, but also reflects that the entire Chinese Internet development has entered a new stage.
Prior to this, Alibaba's success was largely due to the specific context of that era of "traffic anxiety".
At that time, Internet companies generally pursued scale expansion and market share. Whoever can have more user traffic will be able to get more capital favor and market advantages. Alibaba is like a fish in water under this logic, and it has soared all the way.
However, with the change of times, this business model that relies solely on traffic and scale has gradually exposed its drawbacks. Especially after suffering heavy anti-monopoly fines in 2021, Ali has to face the new reality. Under the new situation of major changes in regulatory policies, the business logic of the past era of "traffic anxiety" is no longer effective. Alibaba must rethink itself from the ground up and fundamentally reshape its business model and ecosystem.
It is no longer possible to rely only on a single track such as e-commerce, payment, and logistics. Alibaba must nurture new growth engines, promote digital transformation, and provide more comprehensive services for small and medium-sized enterprises.
This transformation process is undoubtedly fraught with difficulties, but it is the path that Alibaba must take. From layoffs to internal reforms, the once-tech kingdom is undergoing a complete reshuffle.
The new CEO, Wu Yongming, holds three key positions, which shows the urgent need for power centralization within Alibaba. Only under his absolute leadership will it be possible for the company to complete the spin-off and restructuring and lay a solid foundation for future development.
Of course, this transformation is not going to be easy. Ali will inevitably face many internal pains: from the so-called "big pot rice" in the past to the new culture of refinement and youth in the future, I believe it will cause a huge impact.
Whether Alibaba can be rejuvenated like the young "tiger and leopard" will become the most concerned issue for the vast majority of employees.
From "Jack Ma's Kingdom" to professional reshaping
Looking back at Alibaba's development history, it is not difficult to find that the rise and fall of this company actually reflects some deep-seated changes in the development of the entire Chinese Internet industry into a new stage.
Jack Ma's aggressive expansion and "do whatever you want" style of the past are no longer applicable. Under the new situation of major changes in regulatory policies, the business logic of relying solely on traffic and scale dividends is no longer effective.
Alibaba must rethink itself from the ground up and fundamentally reshape its business model and ecosystem. This is undoubtedly a difficult and long process, but if Ali can successfully pass this critical period, it will also usher in a new rise.
From layoffs to internal reform and reorganization, Ali is undergoing a complete reshuffle. This change is bound to bring pain, but it also opens up new prospects for the once tech kingdom.
In the future, Ali will no longer be the "Jack Ma Kingdom" created by Jack Ma. Instead, it will be a more professional and refined new technology enterprise. It will no longer be satisfied with a single logic of traffic and scale, but will explore real business value and innovation drive.
This is undoubtedly an unknown future for Alibaba's employees. But we believe that as long as the company can continue to transform, it will return to its position as an industry leader.
Of course, Alibaba's metamorphosis does not mean the end of the entire Chinese Internet industry. On the contrary, this reshuffle is heralding a new era for the industry. The future will be a stage of development dominated by digital transformation and innovation-driven, and those companies that can adapt to this trend will surely stand out.
For Alibaba, this difficult "rebirth" road is undoubtedly still a long one. But as long as it can persevere in self-reform, I believe that one day, this once technological kingdom will regain its former glory.
The road of transformation from "Jack Ma's Kingdom" to professional remodeling
When looking back on Alibaba's development history, we have to sigh at what kind of vicissitudes this once technology kingdom has undergone.
From the "Jack Ma Kingdom" created by Jack Ma to the verge of collapse, Alibaba's change of fortune actually reflects an important turning point in the development of the entire Chinese Internet industry.
Over the past decade, under the leadership of Jack Ma, Alibaba has become the brightest star on the technology map in China and even in the world. With their aggressive expansion strategy and fanatical pursuit of traffic, they have quickly built a huge industrial empire that includes many business sectors such as e-commerce, payment, and logistics.
But in just a few years, this once soaring technology kingdom has suffered a series of heavy losses. From the suspension of Ant Financial's IPO, to the sky-high anti-monopoly fine of 18.2 billion yuan, to the large-scale layoffs now, Alibaba is experiencing an unprecedented baptism.
It's a difficult time for the company's top brass to make a difficult decision. On the one hand, they must take "heart booster" measures as soon as possible to alleviate the company's operating pressure; On the other hand, it is necessary to fundamentally reshape Alibaba's business model and development logic to adapt to the new situation.
This is undoubtedly a challenging process. From the extensive development of the so-called "Jack Ma Kingdom" in the past to the new era of more specialization and refinement in the future, Alibaba must carry out a thorough self-innovation.
The new CEO, Wu Yongming, holds three key positions, which undoubtedly shows that the company urgently needs a high degree of concentration of power to promote internal reform and restructuring. Only under his absolute leadership will it be possible for Alibaba to complete the spin-off and remodeling, laying a solid foundation for future development.
Of course, the transition has not been easy. Ali will inevitably face various internal pains: from the "big pot rice" culture in the past to the new business philosophy that will be younger and more refined in the future, I believe it will cause a huge impact.
But I believe that as long as Alibaba can firmly follow this difficult path of change, the former tech kingdom will surely regain its former glory. From the "Jack Ma Kingdom" to professional remodeling, this process is undoubtedly long and arduous, but it will eventually open a new chapter for this company.
In the future, Ali will no longer be a personal kingdom created by Jack Ma, but a more professional and innovation-driven new technology enterprise. It will no longer be satisfied with a single logic of traffic and scale, but will explore the real business value and sustainable development path. This is undoubtedly a future full of unknowns for Alibaba's employees. From the "big pot rice" welfare in the past to a more refined and younger management model in the future, I believe that the internal will face huge cultural shock and adaptation pains.
But I believe that as long as Ali works together and persists in promoting this self-innovation, this former technology kingdom will eventually reshape a more professional and innovation-driven new look.
In this critical period of transformation, Alibaba's first task is to sort out its core business and identify the key directions for future development. Relying on a single business model such as e-commerce and payment in the past is obviously no longer enough to support future development.
In the future, Alibaba must target a wider range of digital transformation and innovation-driven fields to provide more comprehensive service support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Only in this way can it get rid of the business logic of relying solely on traffic and scale in the past, and truly explore new growth momentum.
Of course, this transformation will not happen overnight. Alibaba will inevitably face many pains and challenges: from the optimization of the organizational structure, to the integration of the talent team, to the shaping of the new corporate culture, a high degree of coordination and execution are required.
But as long as Ali is united and unswervingly promotes this self-innovation, I believe that one day, this once-glorious technology kingdom will regain its former glory.
Of course, Alibaba's transformation does not mean the end of the entire Chinese Internet industry. On the contrary, this reshuffle is heralding a new era for the industry.
The future will be a stage of development dominated by digital transformation and innovation-driven, and those companies that can adapt to this trend will surely stand out. Alibaba's reinvention is just a microcosm of the industry's transformation process.
For the entire Chinese Internet industry, this reshuffle is undoubtedly a valuable opportunity. It marks the shift from the single flow and scale logic of the past to the real business value and innovation drive.
In the future, those companies that can grasp the wave of digitalization, deepen their subdivisions, and provide differentiated services will surely stand out. And those established giants who will only rely on extensive expansion may not be able to sustain.
This is undoubtedly a new era full of opportunities and challenges. For Alibaba, this difficult "rebirth" road is undoubtedly still a long one. But as long as it can persevere in self-reform, I believe that one day, this once technological kingdom will regain its former glory.
In this period of transformation, how will Alibaba define its future? What kind of new era does the end of the Jack Ma era herald? These issues deserve our continued attention and discussion. Only by grasping the pulse of industry change can we gain insight into the development trend of this industry.