TikTok Layoffs: Employees In Operations And Marketing To Be Cut As US Ban Looms

TikTok layoff: The company has reportedly announced plans to lay off up to 1,000 employees worldwide

TikTok layoff: The company has reportedly announced plans to lay off up to 1,000 employees worldwide. The news, disclosed by The Information on Tuesday, marks a departure from the company's typical phased approach to handling crises, focusing instead on immediate cost reductions. The layoffs come amid increasing challenges for TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, following recent US legislation. President Joe Biden signed a House bill that bans TikTok's operations in the US unless the app is sold to an American company. This legislative move has intensified pressure on ByteDance, leading to the decision to cut jobs.

ByteDance has responded by suing the US federal government, claiming the ban infringes on the First Amendment rights of American users. Despite its firm stance against selling TikTok or its proprietary algorithm, the company may now consider sales that exclude the algorithm, according to sources cited by The Information.

The layoffs are expected to mainly affect TikTok's content and marketing departments. Anonymous employees informed the tech news outlet that notifications will begin late Wednesday and continue into early Thursday. Additionally, TikTok plans to dissolve its global user operations team, which handles user support and communication. Remaining team members will be reassigned to other departments such as trust and safety, marketing, content, and product teams.

TikTok has a substantial presence in the US, employing nearly 7,000 people as of 2023 and boasting 150 million American users. The US market is crucial for TikTok, accounting for about 80 per cent of its $20 billion revenue in 2023, according to a Financial Times report from March 18.

Meanwhile, ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing, have filed a lawsuit in US federal court to block a newly signed law by President Biden, according to Reuters. The law requires either the divestiture of the popular short video app or an outright ban, a decision that has generated significant controversy.