Morningstar is cutting jobs in Shenzhen and relocating employees to other countries as part of its restructuring efforts in China, reported Bloomberg News.
Several hundred of the Chicago-based financial services company’s 1,000 employees in the southern technology hub are said to be affected by the job cuts.
Employees will be moved to other offices including in Mumbai, Madrid, Toronto and Chicago while the firm’s Chinese operations will focus entirely on the domestic market, a representative for Morningstar told the news agency.
The roles that are set to be relocated elsewhere majorly consist of the company’s global support team, a person familiar with the matter divulged to Bloomberg News.
This team offers data and information technology support to different regions globally.
Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor said in recent a company memo seen by Bloomberg: “This decision was necessary in the increasingly complex business environment.
“We remain motivated by the potential the China market offers, and we’re in the process of defining a new strategy for China market growth.”
According to the memo, the restructure will take place over the next 12 months and the data related to the China market will continue to be collected within the country.
Morningstar, which offers services such as financial research and investment management, also has operations in other Asian countries such as Singapore and Thailand.
The firm’s decision to slash its Shenzhen headcount comes as foreign financial firms operating on the mainland struggle with Covid-19 lockdowns, volatile markets and state interference in China.
Morningstar forayed into China in 2003 by setting up a research firm in Shenzhen. It currently also has an office in Shanghai.
