Internet search titan Baidu and social media and video gaming behemoth Tencent Holdings each trimmed more than 4,000 roles in 2022, leaving some 41,000 and 110,000 full-time employees on their payrolls, respectively, as of December 31, The South China Morning Post reported.

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and food delivery platform Meituan, both with a much larger workforce, cut around 20,000 and 10,000 jobs last year. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Employment at China’s largest internet companies is often considered a barometer of the country’s economic health, and the speed at which they have been slashing jobs to survive a slowing economy and regulatory headwinds has alarmed Chinese authorities.

China witnessed tough times in recent times amid rising COVID-19 cases.