Alibaba hiring 15,000 people, pushes back on job cut reports

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said it plans to hire 15,000 people this year, pushing back on reports that the Chinese tech firm is laying off employees.

In a statement released on Weibo on Thursday, the Chinese e-commerce platform said its “six major business divisions will need to hire 15,000 new recruits in total.” The company said it would recruit 3,000 university graduates. It characterized reports of layoffs as “rumours” and said employee departures are part of the “normal flow.”

Alibaba’s cloud division has begun a round of job cuts that could reduce its staff by about seven percent, Bloomberg News reported earlier this week. The company is offering severance packages or transfers to other parts of the Alibaba empire, as it prepares the fast-growing cloud unit for a spinoff and eventual initial public offering.