Optimize the structure or lay off staff at the end of the year?
Recently, media reports said that Zhongliang Holding Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhongliang) has just undergone staffing adjustments. The scope of the adjustment involves multiple departments of the headquarters of Zhongliang Holdings. The goal is to streamline headquarters staff to over a hundred people.
Responding to the “layoff” issue that has caused concern, the relevant person in charge of Zhongliang Holdings told the media: “A company’s own behavior in market competition will not be commented on.” Relevant sources said: “There are no large-scale layoffs, adjustments made based on employee assessments.”
But this is not the first time that Zhongliang has adjusted its internal organizational structure this year. In April this year, the media said that Zhongliang was considering changes in its internal organizational structure. At that time, it was predicted that some areas would be reduced by 20% after the merger . Zhongliang contracted and merged the previous 12 regional groups, and finally established six regions: the southern region, the northern region, the western region, the Shandong region, the Jiangsu region, and the Zhejiang region. After the establishment of the region, the staffing of each region has further contracted.
According to public data, in 2016, 2017, and 2018, Zhongliang’s sales were 19 billion, 64.9 billion, and 101.5 billion, respectively, which quickly exceeded 100 billion, which is a dark horse in the industry. The announcement shows that from January to November 2019, the cumulative contracted sales (contracted sales of joint ventures and associated companies) of Zhongliang Holdings amounted to approximately RMB 130.5 billion. According to the estimation of the annual sales target of 130 billion yuan previously announced by Zhongliang Holdings, the target is to reach the target in advance. However, in 2019, the external financing of housing enterprises is tight, and the property market in third- and fourth-tier cities has turned cold. Previously, the expansion of Zhongliang Holdings relied on the layout of third- and fourth-tier cities. Therefore, the contraction of the mid-girder area and the reduction of labor costs are also considered as normal corporate behavior.