December 13, 2022: -More tech startups in Southeast Asia laid off workers as macro headwinds widened, dropping, and venture capitalists pushed startups to extend their runways.

The previous week, online marketplace Carousell stated that it was letting go of 10% of its headcount or approximately 110 positions.

In November, Indonesia’s GoTo Group, a merger between ride-hailing giant Gojek and e-commerce marketplace Tokopedia, cut 1,300 jobs or regarding 12% of its headcount.

Both firms cited challenging macroeconomic challenges. There are signs that we are coming to a recession if we are not in one.

Therefore, a Group and another regional firm are downsizing their headcount. According to local media, Sea Group laid off more than 7,000 employees over the previous six months.

“Founders to be prudent by managing costs in this atmosphere to make sure there is sufficient runway till previous 2024,” Jia Jih Chai, co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based e-commerce brand aggregator Rainforest. Chai was prior a senior vice president at Carousell and a managing director at Airbnb.

“There are signs that we are coming to a break if we are not already in one. Hence, customer demand will be slower in 2023,” Chai said.

In a note to Carousell’s workers, CEO Quek Siu Rui acknowledged “critical mistakes” were made. He added that he was “too optimistic” regarding the Covid recovery and thinking about the impact of growing his team too soon.

“The reality is that we were quick to increase our expenses and hire, but the returns took over expected,” said Quek, which adds that there have been cost-cutting measures in the previous few months. Carousell’s leadership is taking voluntary pay cuts.