Moody’s closing its consulting business in China

The US-headquartered credit rating firm, Moody’s Corp is shutting it’s China consulting business and is laying off its staff. Two people with knowledge of the matter said that Moody’s Corp is laying off people associated with the unit in multiple locations across the country, reported The News International.Moody’s Corp started winding down the business, Moody’s Analytics, in China this week, the people said on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to media. First announced internally on Monday, the move has affected more than 100 employees across Moody’s Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen offices, one of the sources said, reported The News International.The total headcount for the business unit could not immediately be ascertained. Moody’s credit rating business will continue to operate in the world’s second-largest economy, the source added. Moody’s had flagged in a recent earnings call that it was “taking steps to align our global workforce with current and anticipated economic conditions,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement.Notably, China’s zero-Covid policy and its sporadic lockdowns are pushing multinational firms from its lands to different countries, a media report said citing the report of the European Union Chamber of Commerce. Recently, in September, the EU Chamber of Commerce released a report that China had become less predictable, less reliable, and less efficient, resulting in several multinational firms considering shifting their operations out of China to other markets, Financial Post reported.