ETMall to cut e-commerce, TV shopping workforce by 200

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) Multichannel retailer ETMall has said it will cut its workforce by 200 employees by the end of the year.

In a statement on Monday, ETMall's owner Eastern Media Group attributed the move to rising electricity bills, hikes to Taiwan's minimum wage, and interest payment which had caused operating costs to increase by NT$130 million (US$3.98 million).

Sales on ETMall's online shopping platform fell by NT$5.9 billion between 2021 and 2024 - a 58 percent drop - while revenues for its TV shopping division shrunk by 20 percent to NT$6.5 billion during the same period, according to Eastern Media.

Eastern Media said those leaving ETMall who do not take voluntary redundancy would be given help to find new positions within the company.

While ETMall's offline retail division has posted consistent losses since opening in 2023, Eastern Media said sales at its shopping mall in Taipei Main Station had grown 345 percent between October 2023 and October 2024.

Eastern Media said it would shutter ETMall's loss-incurring fresh food online shopping network as well as its Ponta points-based rewards program.

ETMall's TV shopping channels are also under pressure due to declining cable subscribers, which have fallen from a recent peak of 5.2 million households to below 4.4 million, Eastern Media said.

Despite some of its holdings incurring losses, Eastern Media said that the group as a whole remained profitable, adding that ETMall's best-performing employees would be given a 5 percent pay raise after the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

Lu Chih-ming (盧志銘), a specialist from New Taipei's Labor Affairs Department, told CNA Tuesday that ETMall has notified his department of its workforce reduction plans.

Lu said that to his knowledge, many of the workers affected by ETMall's downsizing plan had accepted voluntary severance packages.