Chinese Tech Firms Ax Staff As Beijing's Crackdown Intensifies

Layoffs have reportedly rocked China's tech sector amid the government's ongoing tech crackdown, Huileng Tan reported for Business Insider.

Photo Insert: iQiyi's Nasdaq debut

Among those affected are iQiyi — seen as the Netflix of China — and Kuaishou — a short video app competing against TikTok parent ByteDance.

Video streaming platform iQiyi is laying off hundreds of workers, or some 20% of its workforce across various departments, reported Caixin Global, citing company employees. The outlet reported that in the least profitable divisions, up to 40% of the staff have been made redundant.

According to the company, Nasdaq-listed iQiyi posted 1.4 billion Chinese yuan ($220 million) in operating losses in the third quarter this year, The company saw decreased ad revenues after many of its programs were delayed due to COVID-19 production issues, it said in its third-quarter earnings call.

It is also dealing with programming shakeups. In August, iQiyi announced it would stop airing idol competitions amid the government's crackdown on fan culture, Reuters reported.

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