(Yicai Global) Dec. 12 -- Zhihu, a Chinese question and answer website similar to Quora, has denied claims that it is letting go of around 20 percent of its employees shortly after reportedly introducing a new chief financial officer.

The Beijing-based firm is making staff redundant but toned down the scope of the layoffs in a social media post yesterday, saying it was simply a routine adjustment to optimize operations.

The reason behind the layoffs is a budget cut brought about by the new CFO, Jiemian news reported, citing an ex-worker. The company will release information on the redundancies at the end of this week, the report added, saying the new financial head, Sun Wei, arrived in November.

Several former employees posted on social media on Dec. 11 that they had been laid off and that the platform, which more than quadrupled its first-half advertising income in the first half, was letting go of around a fifth of its employees.

"This morning I was fixing bugs, then in the afternoon I got told I was being let go," one verified ex-Zhihu employee said on Maimai, a Chinese equivalent to LinkedIn. Another told Sina's financial news arm that the company "must have laid off over a hundred people."

Zhihu's public relations team told media outlets that the company has started conducting year-end performance evaluations and is making staff changes in order to streamline operations. Fintech company Qudian and live-streaming platform Douyu have also recently confirmed job cuts.   

The company was worth USD2.4 billion after its E-series financing in August, which raised USD270 million, Chief Executive Zhou Yuan said at the time. But as it has begun to commercialize operations, mainly through ads, it is struggling to retain users who would prefer not to see them.

Editor: James Boynton