TikTok has started According to five people with knowledge of the process, a global restructuring of its business included layoffs.
The short-form video app, owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, has rapidly expanded both its user base and workforce in recent years. Even though Tensions with the Trump Administration Because of fears it could be a tool of the Chinese government, TikTok surpassed 1 billion monthly active users in September and now has thousands of employees worldwide. Its rapid growth and success with young users are inspired Meta .’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube to launch competing short-form video products.
But on Monday morning, several employees based in Europe were told their jobs were at risk and were told they would have an invitation to meet with HR staff in the coming weeks, according to company sources. Some UK employees have been warned that job losses will occur in some parts of TikTok. When U.S.-based employees began working later than business hours, some were informed that their roles had been removed.
The restructuring, announced internally, includes layoffs and some vacant roles, and affects TikTok’s businesses in the US, EU and UK, an employee said. Plans to expand some groups within the company have been postponed.
One of TikTok’s earliest execs hired outside of China, David Ortiz, a veteran Snap employee, announced on LinkedIn today that he is leaving the company because his role has been removed as part of a “much larger reorganization effort.”
A senior employee with knowledge of the changes did not deny that a restructuring with job losses is underway. A TikTok spokesperson responding to a request for comment made this morning did not object that layoffs were taking place, but did not provide for comment on the profile as of the time of publication.
TikTok joins the ranks of major tech companies and startups that have frozen hiring or implemented layoffs in recent weeks as fears of a recession have taken hold. Recent company Abandoned plan to expand the TikTok Shop direct shopping platform, billed as a major new revenue stream, in the United States and Europe. A former TikTok employee who left the company earlier this year said that the restructuring is probably related to the broader economic environment. “I don’t think what’s happening here with TikTok’s layoffs is any different from what’s happening in the big tech sector,” the former employee said.
Another TikTok employee said that layoffs focused on individuals and groups that managers believed were not contributing enough to the company and stated that the number of layoffs would be less than 100. Previous statements TikTok and sources inside the company show they have at least 10,000 employees across the US and Europe.
TikTok was created in 2018 after ByteDance acquired Chinese startup Musical.ly. Its rapid growth has seen the company hit milestones like reaching 1 billion active users, garnering political scrutiny, and playing the role of central role in a war much faster than old social networks like Facebook. “They’ve expanded at a rate we’ve never seen before,” said Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism, a marketing agency in New York. He guesses that the restructuring won’t reduce TikTok’s impact or popularity. “I can’t imagine that a few layoffs are a sign of bigger troubles or anything that will slow their momentum.”
Ortiz, the CEO who announced his departure from LinkedIn, declined to speak to WIRED. In his post, he pointed out TikTok’s brief but energetic trajectory. “Working at TikTok is a journey.”
