Close
Didi Ride-hailing

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi is laying off 20% of its staff

Rebbeca Ren

posted on February 15, 2022 0:24 am

Trouble-ridden Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi is laying off 20% of its workforce, or about 3,000 people, Chinese tech news outlet LatePost reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The large-scale layoffs began in mid-January, starting with R-Lab, the innovation arm of Didi, followed by ride-hailing, bike-sharing, and freight businesses.

The community group buying business, Chengxin, continued to shrink. Starting in September 2021, the business unit has closed operations in a number of cities and slashed its workforce due to tighter regulation and fierce competition. Didi reported a 1.7% decline in third-quarter revenue, and community group buying business brought it an investment loss of 20.8 billion yuan

According to the report, Didi's international business group has not been affected and is still recruiting. The Beijing-headquartered company, which is expanding its presence in Europe and South America, said revenue from its international operations nearly doubled to 966 million yuan in the third quarter.

The self-driving unit, which was spun off into an independent subsidiary in 2019, is also not affected by the layoffs.

Didi, which counts Alibaba, Tencent, and SoftBank among its investors, is planning to delist from New York and pursue a listing in Hong Kong. 

According to Reuters, the company is considering adopting the 'listing by introduction' mechanism, which would allow owners of Didi US shares to transfer them to the Hong Kong bourse gradually.

The delisting decision comes as the Chinese government tightens controls on overseas listings, data protection, and cybersecurity. 

Last year, the company moved forward with its IPO in New York without resolving cybersecurity issues raised by the authorities, which lead to a batch of its apps, including the most critical ride-hailing app, being removed from China's app stores.