Daraz announces dismissal of employees

Islamabad: Daraz Group, an e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba, has announced to lay off employees across the group to adopt a more streamlined and agile structure. The memo did not mention the number of people affected by the dismissal.

Daraz declined to comment on the percentage or absolute number of employees affected in its operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. “We bid farewell to many of the valued members of the Daraz family,” the memo sent to the staff said.

Last year, Daraz told media it had employed 3,000 employees in its geographic regions, before the e-commerce market cut its workforce by 11% due to difficult market conditions, the Ukraine crisis, supply chain disruptions, rising inflation, higher taxes and lower government subsidies, among other reasons.

“Despite our efforts to find different solutions, our cost structure falls short of our financial targets. Faced with unprecedented challenges in the market, we must take immediate action to ensure the long-term sustainability and continued growth of our company.

He added that the group plans to focus on improving the customer experience by diversifying value for money product offerings on its platform.

Established as an online fashion retailer in Pakistan in 2012, Daraz was later bought by Chinese internet company Alibaba in 2018.

The business covers four key sectors – e-commerce, logistics, payment infrastructure and financial services.

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The company told media it has more than 30 million buyers, 200,000 active sellers and more than 100,000 brands.

In January, the e-commerce group appointed James Dong as acting CEO, replacing outgoing CEO Bjarke Mickelson.

Outgoing CEO Mickelson said last year that Pakistan and Bangladesh are the group’s largest markets.