Alibaba to Resume Hiring as Beijing Eases Regulatory Pressure
The tech giant will resume hiring, buoyed by the thaw in Beijing’s regulatory stance towards the sector
Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai has revealed the tech giant will resume hiring, buoyed by a thaw in Beijing’s regulatory stance towards the sector.
In a statement, Tsai said the company’s workforce has decreased for 12 consecutive quarters. He blamed a previous regulatory clampdown that dampened investment and led to layoffs.
The February meeting between President Xi Jinping and prominent business leaders, including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, signalled a thaw in Beijing’s regulatory stance towards the sector. Tsai said that renewed hiring would foster job security and consumer confidence, which is vital to tackle economic challenges facing the nation, such as high youth unemployment and weak consumer sentiment.
Tsai also expressed concern over the substantial investment announcements in artificial intelligence in the United States. He suggested they could be the sign of a bubble beginning to form. He said the figures being bandied about, like $500 billion, were excessive and premature.
In contrast, Alibaba said it plans to invest at least 380 billion yuan ($52 billion) in its cloud computing and AI infrastructure over the next three years.
The Hang Seng Tech Index, which Alibaba is a part of, is up 24% this year amid optimism following Xi’s meeting and the success of Chinese startup DeepSeek in the AI sector.
