Alibaba announces to suspend recruitment plan in 2015

It is the land where job creation is king, but now Alibaba has imposed a hiring freeze in the name of efficiency.

在创造就业至高无上的中国，阿里巴巴以提高效率的名义停止了招聘。

The edict from Jack Ma, group founder and chairman of the group with 34,000 employees, that “this year our entire group’s headcount won’t increase by one person” runs counter to Beijing’s ethos — one which partly explains the zombie steel mills and other industries running on empty across the country.

这家有3.4万员工的集团的创始人和董事长马云发布公告称，“今年我们整个集团的员工数不会增加一个人”，这与中国政府的政策精神相悖。政府的政策精神在一定程度上解释了中国各地空转的僵尸炼钢厂和其他工业企业。

Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce company that launched a record initial public offering in the US last September, would appear to be listening to a different constituency: shareholders who are focussed on the bottom line as revenue growth slows.

阿里巴巴是一家中国电子商务企业，去年9月曾在美国进行创纪录规模的首次公开发行。该公司似乎正在听取另一个群体的意见——股东的意见。在营收增长放缓之际，这些股东关注的是公司的净利润。

Mr Ma told employees in a speech posted online on Wednesday: “The purpose is simple: we need to get into formation. I think [over] 30,000 people is efficient.”

在周三发布在网上的讲话中，马云向阿里巴巴员工表示：“目的很简单，就是把我们的队形整一下，我认为三万多人已经足够了。”

Alibaba’s management has come under pressure to temper costs after the company’s share price dropped from a high of $119 in November to roughly $85 today.

在阿里巴巴的股价从去年11月119美元的高点跌至如今的每股约85美元之后，阿里巴巴管理层已面临降低成本的压力。

In January, Alibaba announced a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in revenues in the quarter to December 31 to Rmb26.2bn ($4.2bn), missing analysts’ expectations of $4.4bn. That, coupled with a regulatory battle over a report on counterfeit goods, has weighed on the group’s share price.

今年1月，阿里巴巴发布去年第四季度财报，集团收入同比增长40%，至262亿元人民币（合42亿美元），低于分析师此前预计的44亿美元。这个消息再加上阿里巴巴与中国监管部门就一份假货报告的争执，使该公司股价面临压力。

The hiring freeze comes two months after another austerity decision when Mr Ma said that employees would not receive the traditional spring bonuses.

两个月前，阿里巴巴还做出了另一个减支决定，马云当时表示将不给全体员工发放传统的新春红包。

The Alibaba chairman said in February that he was unsatisfied with the company’s 2014 performance, in spite of Alibaba’s $25bn IPO on the New York stock exchange.

马云在2月份表示，尽管阿里巴巴成功在纽约证交所上市、筹资250亿美元，但他对公司2014年的业绩并不满意。

“We must objectively and calmly see our own results, rationally regard external views and not let ourselves be lost in illusory fame,” he said at the time.

他当时在致员工的邮件中写道：“我们必须客观冷静地看待自己的成绩，理性地对待外界的评论，不能让自己迷失在虚幻的名声里。”

Mr Ma added on Wednesday that Alibaba would hire a new employee only when a current staff member quits.

本周三，马云表示，阿里巴巴整个集团的员工数不会增加一个人，出一个进一个。

One area where Alibaba may require expanded headcount is eradicating counterfeit goods sold on its market places.

在一个领域阿里巴巴或许需要增加人头，那就是打击其在线市场上销售的假货。