Layoffs may be due to the mistakes of senior executives

Chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang began pushing a “new retail” strategy aimed at removing barriers between online and offline stores starting around 2016, before he became Ma’s heir apparent.
He went on an acquisition spree to implement the strategy. In 2015, Alibaba poured RMB 28.3 billion into Suning.com, a big retailer. It invested an additional HKD 19.8 billion (USD 2.5 billion) in a major department store two years later, followed by the 2018 acquisition of food delivery service Ele.me for more than USD 9.5 billion.
However, most of its purchases have failed to produce synergies with online retail and continue to generate losses for the company. The job cuts mainly target these businesses.
Senior management is not immune to the knife. Zhang was replaced by Dai as the head of the main e-commerce subsidiary in late April. Ms. Dai is expected to revitalize Alibaba's business and organization.