Image Source: Visual China
BEIJING, May 20 (TMTPOST) — Chinese video site Bilibili has denied reports of massive layoff on Friday, saying that there are only regular personnel adjustments going on at the company.
Citing sources, the Paper reported earlier that Bilibili’s gaming business unit will be laying off 20%-30% of its staff, while some of the project teams may cut 70% of the total jobs.
In late 2021, there were also reports that claim Bilibili was planning a round of layoff. Insiders said that a round of layoff will be initiated in May and that in-house game projects would be worst hit. Only a few in-house game projects will remain, insiders said.
“We were informed at short notice,” an employee who claimed to have been laid off by Bilibili told the Paper. “The company is currently offering the N+1 compensation package. There is basically no room for negotiation.”
Several insiders at Bilibili told the Paper that the layoff was triggered by the gaming business unit’s failure to achieve the expected revenues. Bilibili’s 2021 earnings report shows that the company’s mobile gaming business brought in 5.1 billion yuan last year, registering year-on-year growth of 6%. The revenues from mobile gaming accounted for 26.27% of the total revenues. Gaming was no longer the main revenue source for Bilibili as growth slowed down.
“Revenue growth will be the core of Bilibili’s strategy,” Chen Rui, CEO and board chair of Bilibili said. “The company will work to reduce cost and increase efficiency, as well as cutting the unnecessary budget. In cases where we need to spend money, we need to spend it efficiently.” The company’s CFO Fan Xin stated that Bilibili plans to achieve break-even (non-GAAP) in 2024.
