Reneging on Job Offers Underscores Sea’s Retrenchment

Southeast Asian conglomerate Sea Ltd. has pumped the brakes on its e-commerce unit Shopee’s expansion, resorting to measures such as reneging on jobs offers to Chinese employees at the last minute.

The strategy shift came as the Singaporean company backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. tries to slash costs to shore up its bottom line amid widening losses. The red ink has followed several years of aggressive expansion by Shopee, which has piled pressure on its balance sheet this year, just as challenges raising money abroad mounted.