JD.Com’s HR Strategy 2019 Says Yes to 15,000 New Frontline Staff But No to Top Execs – Yicai Global
What happened: Chinese online retailer JD is planning to recruit 15,000 more employees, or around 9% of its current workforce, in 2019. New headcount will mainly go to fill lower-level positions from customer service to logistics management. The rest will be assigned to jobs for enhancing user experience in technology and retail businesses.
Why it’s important: The current recruitment plan comes just a week after the company announced a 10% job cut among executives. The hires support an enhanced user experience with faster and more reliable delivery, known to be part of JD’s core values. Unlike Taobao’s customer-to-customer (C2C) marketplace, which partners with third-party couriers, JD is a business-to-customer (B2C) platform that holds its inventories and uses its own logistics network to fulfill orders. The company is also integrating autonomous solutions to its logistics network, though it remains heavily dependent on human labor.