Yesterday, Sephora, a subsidiary of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, announced job cuts in China.
Against the backdrop of a slowing Chinese economy, this beauty retailer, which entered the Chinese market in 2005, will reduce its workforce by 3 percent, or about 120 people. However, according to Bloomberg, citing sources, Sephora is planning to cut up to 10 percent of its workforce in China to reverse its losses in the market.
Previously, on Chinese social media platforms, several users claiming to be Sephora employees voiced concerns, stating that the company was engaging in layoffs and pressuring departing employees to “voluntarily” sign disciplinary forms, “dismiss long-serving employees,” and “refuse to pay legally required severance.” This sparked widespread attention and heated discussions online. It is reported that Sephora has about 350 stores in over 100 cities in China and also sells products online.
In a statement, Sephora China said, “In response to the challenging market environment and to ensure our future growth in China, Sephora China is currently streamlining our organizational structure at headquarters to ensure we have the right capabilities to drive long-term sustainable growth.”
In April this year, Ding Xia, who previously served at Nike Inc. and JD.com, replaced Chen Bing as the General Manager of Sephora Greater China, reporting to the company’s Asia-Pacific President, Alia Gogi.
According to the latest financial report from LVMH, the group’s revenue for the first half of 2024 was 41.677 billion euros, down 1 percent year-on-year, while the specialty retail division, which includes Sephora, saw revenue increase by 3 percent to 8.63 billion euros year-on-year.
