Tag: ECOMMERCE

  • Daraz Group to reduce 11% workforce in response to challenging market conditions

    Daraz Group to reduce 11% workforce in response to challenging market conditions

    Daraz Group, an e-commerce subsidiary of Alibaba Group, will be reducing its workforce by 11 per cent in response to the challenging market conditions.

    The CEO, Bjarke Mikkelsen, noted the adverse impact of a war in Europe, significant supply chain disruptions, rising inflation, heightened taxes, and the elimination of crucial government subsidies on the company’s operations, which are in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

    Daraz, which was founded in Pakistan in 2012 and acquired by Alibaba in 2018, is the largest e-commerce platform in Pakistan and serves over 100,000 SMEs in the country.

    According to Ehsan Saya, Managing Director of Daraz in the country, Pakistan remains the company’s largest market with the largest number of employees across its markets.

    He adds, “almost one-third of the staff in Pakistan is from regional teams which work with teams in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Singapore, and China.”

    Ehsan Saya confirmed to Reuters that the 11 per cent reduction in the workforce of Daraz Group will also result in an equivalent cut in its workforce in Pakistan. The group did not provide further details regarding the specific number of employees affected and further details on the restructuring.

    In a letter, CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen stated that Daraz has been able to grow its active shopper base from three million in 2018 to over 15 million currently, with an average order growth of nearly 100 per cent until last year. The company reported having access to 500 million customers in 2021 and a workforce of 10,000 employees. In the past two years, Daraz has invested $100 million in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

  • Pakistan IT exports cross $1.5bn for the first time

    Pakistan IT exports cross $1.5bn for the first time

    The Pakistan Information Technology (IT) industry has experienced $1.5 billion in exports for the first time. In March, the industry received the highest export remittances of $213 million.

    According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP, IT and IT-enabled services recorded a huge increase of $1.512 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2020-21.

    The industry observed an increase of $459 million, or 43 percent in comparison to the previous period in which the IT exports stood at $1.512 billion.

    The handsome growth in IT exports was driven through software consultancy, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), e-commerce, telecommunication services, etc.

    Moreover, the Pakistani IT industry capitalized on the worst-hit market of India that is also a leading IT service exporter, but because of the COVID-19, the global industry has consulted experts in Pakistan.

    Pakistani software houses are getting a great influx of orders from countries like the US, UK, EU, and the East Easter or Gulf countries because they have a high demand for IT services.

    The country could further increase the exports from $2 billion to $3-3.5 billion in the next financial year if the stakeholders including software houses, the government, and concerned authorities develop an aggressive plan while minimising impediments in the IT sector.

    Furthermore, as per the old policies of the government, the IT sector was exempted from the tax network but the government has decided to reverse the decision.

    Companies are concerned about the immoral practices of government departments, and the recent raids on the IT companies from the intelligence agency also created a fearful working environment for the other software houses, which are considering setting up their offshore offices in different countries.

    On the other side, revenue experts said the IT industry with handsome balance sheets should contribute to support the ailing economy with taxes at a time when the industry is witnessing a peak time.