Tencent fired 120 employees last year due to corruption and embezzlement

Chinese tech giant Tencent has fired more than 120 employees in 2023 for committing fraud, including corruption and embezzlement. In total, at least seventy violations were found.

In addition to the more than 120 dismissals, just under 20 employees have been reported to the Chinese authorities, writes the American financial news magazine Barron’s. By comparison, Tencent has a total of more than 100,000 employees. One of the dismissed employees was reportedly sentenced to four years in prison and given a fine of almost 13,000 euros.

Some of the laid-off employees worked for the company’s entertainment and news division. Another part worked in Tencent’s medical applications department, in which the company also plays a major role in China. Pony Ma, the founder of Tencent, previously called the level of corruption within the company ‘shocking’ and promised improvement.

The tech giant has been in dire straits for some time due to the strict regulations of the Chinese authorities. For example, there are restrictions on online gaming by minors and there is supervision of financial services. These are things from which Tencent generates a large part of its revenue.