Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma has revealed plans to limit the size of the company’s workforce at its current level amid fears that the Chinese e-commerce firm is expanding too quickly.
Ma said that Alibaba, which employs more than 30,000 personnel, will not increase its head count by even a single person this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a transcript of an internal company meeting held in Beijing the previous week.
"The more people you have doesn't mean the better," Ma reportedly said in the transcript, adding that they will only accept a new hire once an existing employee leaves.
Alibaba's growth has been too quick, he added.
Founded by Ma and a group of colleagues in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou in 1999, Alibaba has seen a sharp increase in its workforce in recent years thanks to the boom of online marketplaces and its record-breaking $25 billion IPO in the past year.
The company has also made significant investments outside e-commerce, including those in the entertainment sector, through a series of acquisitions and alliances.
As of 2014, the company employs 34,081 personnel, compared to just 20,884 at the end of 2013.
Ma said that while other large and successful companies can employ as many as 80,000 people, he believes 30,000 is enough for Alibaba.
"God bless them, I hope they perform better and better," he said.
Despite its continued growth, Alibaba is struggling to meet the expectations of its investors. According to its most recent quarterly result, which was published in late January, the company logged revenue growth of 40 percent, well below industry forecasts and less than the 54-percent growth in the previous quarter.
Alibaba is also facing additional pressure from Chinese government officials, who are criticizing shopping sites for not "cracking down sufficiently on improper activities and counterfeit goods."