At the beginning of 2024, there is news of large-scale layoffs from major manufacturers. According to domestic media reports,NetEase has been laying off employees in multiple businesses since December. The hardest hit area is NetEase Media, and the gaming department is also involved.NetEase Media started large-scale layoffs mainly in January, involving multiple product lines such as NetEase News, NetEase Cultural Creativity, and NetEase Open Courses, including content, marketing, sales, product and other positions.
According to the report,The proportion of layoffs in various businesses and departments is not consistent this time, ranging from 10% to 50%.
Several people familiar with the matter revealed,NetEase Media has provided an "N+1" compensation plan. The laid-off employees will also receive year-end bonuses and 13 salary. Some employees can also take the initiative to resign and receive corresponding compensation.
In recent years, "reducing costs and increasing efficiency" has become a common goal of Internet companies. Coupled with the uncertainty caused by the external environment and policy adjustments, departments with poor business performance have become the direct targets of layoff plans.
In November last year, NetEase released its 2023 Q3 financial report, which showed that in that quarter, NetEase's net revenue was 27.2 billion yuan, of which the net revenue of the game segment reached 21.8 billion yuan, and the Q3 net revenue of NetEase Innovation and other businesses was 2 billion yuan (mainly including NetEase Media and NetEase Yanxuan).
It can be seen that NetEase is highly dependent on the game business, which is supported by a few popular products. Some media said that if NetEase cannot continuously launch products of the same level or higher, its profit level and industry status will inevitably be affected.