Exclusive | Baidu cuts jobs across the board, restructures AI teams after loss-making quarter
The staff cuts come after the company posted a loss-making third quarter, despite reporting a 50 per cent jump in AI-related revenue
Baidu has axed staff in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, affecting multiple major business units from its mobile ecosystem group, which includes its bread-and-butter search business, to intelligent cloud and technology platform groups, according to employees affected by the move.
One Beijing-based employee in the mobile ecosystems unit said four of the nine people on his team received severance notices in separate meetings with human resource managers this week, and were expected to leave in December.
The affected employees were given compensation packages that included one month’s pay for each year of service, and between one and three months of additional salary, according to one employee, who added that it was the largest lay-off at Baidu in recent years.
Another employee in Guangzhou said he signed the severance agreement, despite an initial hesitance, because the compensation package was reasonable.
It was not immediately known how many employees would be laid off. Baidu did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.