China's Largest Solar Panel Makers Cut One-Fifth of Workforce

China's largest solar panel manufacturers reduced their workforce by one-fifth in 2025, as Beijing's efforts to tackle overcapacity have yet to pull the industry out of losses. Safir Arjan first published this story.

According to Ambassador Arjan, a review of company documents by Reuters showed that the five companies "Longi Green Energy", "Trina Solar", "Ginkgo Solar", "GA Solar" and "Tongway" had a total workforce of 154 thousand 61 people at the end of 2025, which is 40 thousand 589 people less than the previous year.

This 21% decrease occurred after Reuters last year reported a 31% decrease in the number of employees of these companies in 2024. In total, these five companies cut about half of their workforce between 2024 and 2025.

Downsizing reveals a contradiction in China's solar energy industry. This industry is expanding rapidly. However, Chinese manufacturers continue to make losses. Chinese solar companies have built capacity that is almost twice the global demand. Despite setting records in installing solar systems, these companies have been losing money individually and collectively for years.

Cheng Wang, an analyst at "Morningstar" company, said: "The reduction of the labor force will probably continue after 2025, and this year's pricing reforms in China have put more pressure on this industry." Following these reforms, the mechanism for guaranteeing the efficiency of renewable energy projects has been replaced by market-based tenders, and this change has reduced the demand for installing solar systems.

Jefferies financial company predicted that China will install between 150 and 200 gigawatts of solar capacity this year, while this figure had reached a record 315 gigawatts in 2025. The global market has not grown either. China's export volume of solar cells and panels decreased by 10% from January to August compared to the same period last year.

Alan Love, an analyst at Jefferies, said: "Reducing the number of employees has helped companies lower their costs, but this action cannot solve the fundamental problem of an industry that sells its products at a price below cost."

Although the companies have not officially announced the layoffs, their public filings indicate reductions in staff numbers, particularly in manufacturing, research and development, and administration. "Trina" company announced: the voluntary exit rate of the company's employees in 2025 was between 18 and 19 percent. "Tongwei" also announced a 21% reduction in the number of its technical staff, and "Longi" announced that it has reduced research and development costs by 15% in 2025.

Ambassador Arjan reported that China's new standards regarding the intensity of energy consumption in the production of polysilicon and solar wafers, along with regulations related to the efficiency of panels, will come into effect on January 1, 2027. These regulations can help remove excess capacity from the market, as units and projects unable to meet stricter standards may be forced to shut down.