Sea's E-Commerce Arm Shopee Cuts Jobs as Reorganization Continues

By Jiahui Huang and Megan Cheah

Sea's online-shopping platform Shopee is cutting jobs, according to people familiar with the matter, trimming its workforce as the company pivots toward artificial intelligence.

The layoffs started this week and have affected the app development, product and commercialization teams, the people familiar with the matter said. Some teams were cut entirely, while others experienced staff reductions of around 10%-15%, they said.

Shopee is Southeast Asia's largest e-commerce platform and accounts for more than two-thirds of New York-listed Sea's revenue.

According to people with knowledge of the process, the adjustments aren't limited to Singapore, where Sea is based, and are still continuing.

One of the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private, said the company's push to integrate AI into the business was one of the reasons behind the resizing.

A Shopee spokesperson said the company regularly assesses its staffing needs as it reviews operations.

"From time to time, departments may make adjustments based on operational and business priorities," the spokesperson said.

Like many other tech firms, Sea--one of Southeast Asia's largest companies by market capitalization--has made AI part of its growth strategy.

Earlier this year, Sea announced an expanded partnership with Alphabet's Google that includes jointly building an agentic AI shopping prototype to integrate across their platforms.

"AI is the next big technology revolution, and we believe that it has huge potential to positively transform our business and create value," Sea Chief Executive Forrest Li said at the time.

Last year, in an internal memo seen by The Wall Street Journal, Li said he saw a path for Sea to join the $1 trillion market-cap club if it can "harness and ride the huge wave of value creation AI will make."

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com and Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2026 07:08 ET (11:08 GMT)