Large-Scale Recall of Former Employees? Country Garden Responds

Recent market news about a “large-scale recall of former employees” has put Country Garden (HK02007, stock price HKD 0.31, market cap HKD 13.198 billion) in the spotlight.

On March 18, in response to widespread rumors, Country Garden stated that the “Resigned Staff Rehiring Management Measures” was a routine update completed in January of this year, not a new policy.

Previously, Chairman Yang Huiyan defined 2026 as the “Year of Finalizing Delivery” and a key year for returning to normal operations. She also outlined a development framework for the next 3 to 5 years, focusing on product iteration and building core competitiveness to fully promote business recovery.

Not a new policy

The trending news originated from an internal “Resigned Staff Rehiring Management Measures” document issued by Country Garden.

According to leaked online documents, one clause states, “To ensure orderly business progress aligned with the company’s recovery phase and new project development needs, and to steadily improve key position staffing, providing strong support for stable business advancement, and further standardize the management of re-hiring of resigned employees, this measure is formulated.”

However, according to a reporter from Daily Economic News (hereafter “DE News”), the latest revision of this document was issued as early as January this year.

Country Garden also confirmed the existence of the document when responding to DE News, stating that the adjustments to the “Resigned Staff Rehiring Management Measures” are routine revisions of existing policies, not new policies.

Additionally, Country Garden has established a regular internal management review mechanism, which annually assesses and optimizes existing policies based on operational needs.

The company also emphasized that talented personnel are the driving force behind sustainable development. Its talent recruitment always revolves around actual business needs, utilizing multiple channels such as internal “Three Good” talent programs, rehiring outstanding employees, and external social recruitment.

As a former real estate giant, Country Garden’s employee count has been decreasing as its scale shrinks. In 2018, when the company’s sales exceeded 700 billion yuan and rights sales exceeded 500 billion yuan, its employee number peaked at 131,387, according to the 2018 annual report.

“Most Critical Year”

It is noteworthy that during the 2026 Annual Work Conference held in February this year, Yang Huiyan explicitly defined 2026 as the “Year of Finalizing Delivery,” and laid out a clear timetable aiming to complete most delivery tasks by mid-2026, freeing up more resources to repair the balance sheet and restore normal operations.

According to previous disclosures, from 2022 to 2025, the company has delivered approximately 1.85 million units, maintaining the top position in third-party rankings for delivery volume. At the March 6 monthly management meeting, Yang Huiyan reiterated that 2026 will be the most critical year for transitioning from “ensuring delivery” to normal operations, with the next 3 to 5 years being a period of significant accumulation.

For this crucial period, Yang Huiyan has a clear plan: focus on “building core competitiveness.” On the product and service side, she emphasizes customer orientation, advancing the fourth-generation housing iteration, and implementing designs that cater to different needs, such as aging-in-place and pet-friendly features. Leveraging Country Garden’s full industry chain advantages, the company aims to integrate product design, property services, and other aspects to achieve a second growth phase.

This is the first time Country Garden has outlined its development direction and framework for the next 3 to 5 years.

In fact, Country Garden has been actively preparing for “second growth.”

On December 30, 2025, the company’s offshore debt restructuring, totaling approximately $17.7 billion, officially took effect. Coupled with the approval of its domestic debt restructuring plan of about 13.77 billion yuan, the overall debt reduction is estimated at nearly 90 billion yuan. Post-restructuring, new debt financing costs sharply dropped to 1%–2.5%.

Within the first week after offshore debt restructuring took effect, Country Garden paid approximately $398 million in cash to creditors involved in the restructuring, accounting for about 2% of the total debt principal, with performance far exceeding market expectations. Meanwhile, the company has completed multiple convertible bond conversions, and as of March 16, the total new shares issued exceeded 15 billion, accounting for over 51% of the pre-restructuring share capital.

On the other hand, by the end of 2025, Country Garden’s management and organizational structure underwent major adjustments: Executive Director and President Mo Bin was appointed Co-Chairman, retaining his director role; Executive Director, Executive Vice President, and CEO of Country Garden Properties, Cheng Guangyu, was appointed President. The organizational structure was streamlined from 13 regional divisions to 10, further improving organizational and business alignment.

According to unreviewed operational data disclosed in February 2026, the company and its subsidiaries, joint ventures, and associates achieved approximately 2.23 billion yuan in contract sales in the first two months of the year, with a corresponding construction area of about 290,000 square meters. According to CRIC data, in January–February 2026, Country Garden ranked among the top ten in China’s real estate sales rights value and operational area.

At the March monthly operations meeting, President Cheng Guangyu emphasized that March and April would be key observation periods, requiring all staff to focus on deploying and advancing sales efforts around the “Spring Thunder Action” key milestone.