New Oriental Education laid off 60,000 workers in 2021, says president
By Yifan Wang
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. laid off 60,000 employees in 2021, one of the worst layoffs known after China aggressively tightened regulations across a wide range of private industries more than a year ago .
The staff reduction of 60,000 exceeded the company’s total teacher network of around 54,200 people in May.
The staff cut was disclosed over the weekend in a social media statement from Yu Minhong, founder and chairman of New Oriental, which for the first time officially gave a concrete idea of the severity of the business disruption. brought about by Beijing’s crackdown on the once massive country. tutoring market. The company has stopped publishing financial information since May, the end of its last fiscal year.
Mr. Yu said New Oriental has ended all tutoring activities for elementary to middle school students and has spent nearly 20 billion yuan ($ 3.14 billion) on severance pay, expense reimbursements. education and lease terminations. The company’s turnover fell 80% last year, he added.
“In 2021, New Oriental has encountered too many unforeseen changes,” Yu wrote. “Due to factors such as politics, the pandemic and international relations, much of our business remains in a state of uncertainty.”
The Hong Kong-listed company’s shares lost as much as 3.6% on Monday, before settling up 1.0%.
Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com