Alibaba Group Chief Executive Daniel Zhang on Friday said the company would continue to invest in talent and stimulate job creation by offering platform users more resources to boost their businesses.
“We should continue to utilize the resources on our platforms and boost domestic consumption, bringing in more manufacturing and services orders,” said Zhang at a meeting with a group of top Alibaba managers.
“The biggest value of having a platform-based economy like Alibaba is to create more job opportunities, especially when the economy is challenging,” he added.
The announcement is in line with Alibaba’s longstanding mission of making it easier to do business everywhere, and the company’s commitment to cultivate the talent. As of the end of 2018, Alibaba had 101,550 employees worldwide, a 59% year-on-year increase from the previous year. Alibaba holds several annual celebrations to thank their employees for their service.
E-commerce to Drive Growth
China’s economy grew by 6.6% in 2018 and much of it is driven by the country’s still-robust retail sales. More specifically, online retail sales increased 24% from a year earlier to over RMB 9 trillion ($1.3 trillion), according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Industry watchers believe that with an expanding middle class and rising disposable income, China will surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest retail market this year. China’s total retail sales are expected grow 7.5% to $5.6 trillion, compared to the projected 3.3% growth to $5.5 trillion in the U.S., said market research firm eMarketer.
The Alibaba Ecosystem
Alibaba was founded 20 years ago by Ma and 17 other partners from his apartment in Hangzhou. Since then, the company has undergone massive transformation from a domestic e-commerce provider to a global technology juggernaut.
The Alibaba ecosystem includes nearly 30 business units across its platforms specializing in services from tech-driven retail, mobile payments, digital marketing, media and entertainment, cloud computing and more. Many international brands, from top-tier Italian fashion houses to iconic American food companies, have used Alibaba’s platforms to more successfully reach consumers in China.