Foreign media reports that a major player in the photovoltaic industry has announced workforce reductions, raising questions about why concerns over oversupply are being ignored.

Foreign media reports: China's five major photovoltaic giants—Longi Green Energy, Trina Solar, JinkoSolar, JA Solar, and Tongwei Co.—are set to cut approximately 41,000 employees in 2025, reducing their total workforce to 154,000, a year-on-year decline of 21%. This follows a 31% reduction in 2024, indicating that the industry has shed nearly half its workforce over the past two years.

Despite rising global energy security concerns due to the Hormuz crisis and record-breaking solar installations worldwide, Chinese manufacturers' production capacity now exceeds global demand by a factor of two. Module prices have plummeted from $350/kW in 2019 to $130/kW in 2025, pushing the average EBIT margin for the five major firms down to -13%.

Industry self-restructuring initiatives have faltered due to insufficient support. China’s domestic PV installation volume is expected to drop sharply from 31.5 gigawatts in 2025 to a range of 15–20 gigawatts this year, while export volumes are projected to decline by 10% year-on-year. Analysts suggest the sector may have reached a bottom, but oversupply is likely to persist until the implementation of new energy efficiency standards in 2027.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1879020149436489/

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