Shopee lays off staff globally, S’pore cuts reportedly hit product & engineering teams

The cuts reportedly affect around 8% of Shopee’s developer workforce worldwide

Shopee has begun laying off hundreds of developers globally, including employees in Singapore, as the e-commerce giant restructures its workforce amid a broader industry push towards artificial intelligence (AI).

The job cuts, which began this week, will affect approximately 8% of Shopee’s developer workforce worldwide, according to a Bloomberg report.

When contacted by Vulcan Post, Shopee confirmed the layoffs, although it did not specify how many employees in Singapore were affected.

“We regularly assess our staffing needs as we continually review our business operations. From time to time, departments may make adjustments based on operational and business priorities,” a Shopee spokesperson said.

“These decisions are always made after careful consideration. For colleagues affected by any changes, Shopee is committed to providing support during this period of transition.”

The company declined to provide further comments.

Shopee’s parent company, Sea Ltd, is not unionised in Singapore. However, according to a union spokesperson, the company had informed the Creative Media and Publishing Union (CMPU) in advance about a “workforce adjustment affecting certain employees.”

“Advance notification has enabled CMPU to work closely with management to better support affected employees through this challenging period,” said the spokesperson. This includes ensuring fair compensation packages are offered.

The spokesperson added that CMPU representatives were on site during the layoff exercise to provide assistance.

No company-wide announcement, source says

According to a source who spoke to Vulcan Post, there was no official company-wide announcement regarding the layoffs.

Instead, employees realised the exercise was underway after colleagues suddenly lost access to their work accounts and began packing up their belongings.

The source added that Human Resources had scheduled individual calls with impacted employees and that the layoffs in Singapore primarily affected teams within product and engineering.

Employees affected by the exercise were reportedly offered a severance package equivalent to one month of salary for every year of service, along with an additional two months’ salary.

Shopee is ramping up its AI initiatives

The workforce reduction comes as Sea Limited, which operates both Shopee and gaming platform Garena, continues to ramp up its AI initiatives.

Earlier this year, Sea founder and CEO Forrest Li outlined ambitious growth plans for the company, stating that a trillion-dollar market capitalisation could be achievable if Sea successfully capitalises on opportunities presented by AI.

The company joins a growing list of tech firms investing heavily in AI while streamlining parts of their workforce. Rivals such as Alibaba have similarly been accelerating AI investments as competition intensifies across their core businesses.

To date, Sea has integrated AI into various parts of its operations, including product recommendation systems and seller-focused tools.

In Feb, the company announced a partnership with Google to expand AI adoption across its businesses, including the development of AI-powered shopping agents. Sea has also reportedly established dedicated teams to identify new AI investment opportunities as it seeks additional growth drivers beyond e-commerce.

Featured Image Credit: Edgar Su via Reuters