Tencent adds 3,000 jobs in third quarter, signalling Big Tech growth in China amid AI race

The Shenzhen-based tech giant has grown to more than 108,800 employees, as nearly two years of downsizing comes to an end

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A staff member introduces WeChat services during a government-organised media tour to Tencent headquarters in Shenzhen on September 27, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00pm, 14 Nov 2024Updated: 10:21pm, 14 Nov 2024

Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings added more than 3,000 jobs in the third quarter, in a sign that the country’s most valuable technology company is on a new growth trajectory after the industry was beset by downsizing in recent years.

The Shenzhen-based company had 108,823 employees by the end of September, up 3 per cent year on year, according to its quarterly earnings results.

The new jobs extend the payroll growth seen in the second quarter, when Tencent added 719 jobs from the previous quarter to reach 105,506 employees by the end of June.

Until this year, Tencent’s payroll had mostly been in decline after peaking in March 2022, when it had 116,213 employees.

The company then underwent a series of cost-cutting efforts throughout 2022 and 2023, when it conducted lay-offs and exited some noncore businesses amid a weakened macro environment in China and regulatory scrutiny from Beijing.

Tencent, China’s dominant social media operator and video game publisher, was once known for “owning half the rivers and mountains” in China’s internet industry because of its extensive investments.

It was eventually forced to scale back its portfolio after Beijing moved to clip the wings of Big Tech firms over what it called the “irrational expansion capital” in late 2020.