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Person familiar responds that "Tencent layoffs of 50%" is a rumor and misreading; the claim is completely untrue
IT Home, November 12: Regarding claims circulating on social media such as "Tencent layoffs of 50%" and "8,000 people laid off," a person familiar with Tencent today responded to Sina Tech that the rumors are a misreading of an internal speech and that the claim is completely untrue.
The rumor originated from the Linktime online livestream on November 11 during Tencent's 28th anniversary celebration.
According to the person familiar with the matter, Tencent management expressed its determination to accelerate organizational change during the livestream and used a set of metaphors to explain the approach to resource reallocation: the company's core business is the "Army," while AI Native businesses are the "Navy"; the "Army" should use AI to improve efficiency while adjusting 50% of personnel to move to the "Navy" to support the exploration of AI Native businesses.
IT Home note: AI Native means building with AI capabilities as the core from the very beginning of product design, rather than layering AI features onto existing products.
This statement was simplified during dissemination into "layoffs of 50%," and subsequently spawned multiple versions such as "8,000 people" and "veteran employees at job level 13 being laid off."
The person familiar with the matter emphasized that this round of change is different in nature from the "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" several years ago. The previous one was relatively passive, with the focus leaning toward "cost reduction"; this one is a proactive move for the AI era, with the focus leaning toward "efficiency improvement" — encouraging frontline colleagues to actively raise their hands and charge forward, while middle management needs to become flatter and more agile. The framework of the statement is "50% of people guard the territory, 50% of people embrace the wave," rather than cutting half of the employees.
Prior to this, at the 2026 May shareholders' meeting, Tencent President 刘炽平 responded to the question of layoffs by saying, "There is definitely no major layoff plan; Tencent is not quite the same as Silicon Valley companies."
As of now, Tencent has not issued an official statement regarding the November rumors, and the response from the person familiar with the matter is the highest-level clarification currently available.
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