Ehsan Saya, managing director of Daraz Pakistan, told Reuters: “Our workforce in Pakistan was 1,300, of whom 11% were laid off.”
Daraz, Pakistan’s largest e-commerce retail platform, was established in Pakistan in 2012 and was acquired by Chinese giant Alibaba in 2018. It has 100,000 small and medium companies in Pakistan on its platform.
Mikkelsen said the company will now refocus on its core e-commerce business, simplify operations and drive product innovation and automation.
He told Reuters that there would be no hiring freeze, particularly in sustainable development sectors: “If it requires new staff for certain functions, we will go ahead with them.”
He added that Daraz will focus on “digitizing as many retailers as possible”.
There was no immediate comment from Alibaba on the job cuts or its investment in Drawer.
Mikkelsen said in the letter that Daraz has grown its active shoppers from 3 million in 2018 to more than 15 million now.