When Covid-19 emerged more than two years ago, millions of people including myself suddenly found ourselves stuck at home. To survive the unprecedented challenges and stress, I started to befriend mobile apps I hadn't used before to buy things and pay bills online, among them the e-commerce platform Shopee.
I was attracted to Shopee basically because of heavy promotions such as price discounts and free shipping. Later, I switched to other apps and used Shopee less often. But Shopee's big, celebrity-heavy TV promotions led me to believe the e-commerce arm of the Singapore-based Sea Group was doing fine.
So, it surprised me when I heard that Shopee is laying off staff across Southeast Asia including Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Affiliates ShopeePay and ShopeeFood are also facing cuts so that the company can "optimise our operations in certain segments and markets", according to a June 13 memo from group president Chris Feng.
