Alibaba to cut back on graduate recruitment

Firm denies it has taken a hit from the economic slowdown, claims payroll was already too large

Amid the decline in its share price in New York, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has announced a cut in its campus recruitment quota.

With the original goal of recruiting more than 3,000 fresh graduates in 2016, the Hangzhou-based company said on its official campus recruitment website that the recruitment quota will "shrink due to changes in the group's talent strategy" and "those who were likely to be recruited will have to face tougher competition".