Mingpao.com, the online operation of Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao, has shed 23 per cent of its workforce since the beginning of the year, according to chief operating officer Kevin Lau Chun-to.
Mr Lau said the reduction had largely been the result of natural attrition after the Lunar New Year holiday in January, when a bonus payment was made.
'About 12 to 13 staff from different sections resigned after Lunar New Year and we have not found anyone to replace them,' he said.
'We saw a slowdown in the growth of the dotcom sector in Hong Kong and so decided to freeze recruitment as a means to contain costs.'
Ming Pao's online operation employed 100 people at the start of the year, with about 50 'indirect head-count' coming from the group's newspaper and magazine arms. Since then, the number has shrunk by 23.
Apart from the natural attrition, six members of staff had been transferred to the print media business of the group, Mr Lau said.