Lazada closing Hanoi office affects one hundred employees

Lazada closing Hanoi office located in 838 Bach Dang, Hai Ba Trung district

Lazada Vietnam has confirmed closing its Hanoi office and move all operations to Ho Chi Minh City. The reason provided is not clear as the firm only cites ambitions to unify management and make training easier.

“Most of the employees at the Hanoi office will retain their position or the position they would like in compliance with the company’s policy. They will also be supported when moving to Lazada in Ho Chi Minh City,” the representative of Lazada Vietnam told Zing.vn.

However, while some employees are indeed moving to Ho Chi Minh City, the majority of the Hanoi staff have quit, according to the newswire.

The demand for online shopping in the northern area in general and Hanoi in particular is increasing. Thus, Lazada Vietnam is developing its logistics department in Hanoi, including warehouses, shippers, and other departments.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the company is developing human resources on trade and technology, so some office and business development staff have been transferred from Hanoi.

Lazada started operating in Ho Chi Minh City six years ago and it opened its Hanoi office in 2015 with around 100 employees. This aimed to facilitate connectivity with firms and salesmen as well as expand Lazada’s market share in Hanoi and the whole northern area.

The closing of the Hanoi office and others in the region and over the world is in line with the firm’s strategy of unifying and concentrating human resources for Alibaba’s ambition of dominating the e-commerce market.

Alibaba spent $2 billion acquiring Lazada in 2016-2017. And this giant has just poured in an additional $2 billion last month to double its investment in Lazada in Southeast Asia.

Lazada also closed its technical centres in Bangkok (Thailand) and Moscow (Russia), and moved some of its employees to technical centres in Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and Guangzhou (China).