According to the latest report, short video platform TikTok has begun a restructuring of its global business, laying off some jobs in the process. The company has laid off some U.S. employees and told some employees in Europe that they could be laid off.
TikTok’s user base and employee base have expanded rapidly in recent years. In September last year, the number of monthly active users of the platform exceeded 1 billion, and it currently has tens of thousands of employees worldwide. TikTok’s rapid growth and popularity among young users has also affected Facebook’s social app Instagram and Google’s video platform YouTube, which have launched competing short-video products.
Some European employees were told Monday morning that their jobs were at risk and would be notified of a meeting with the company’s personnel department in the coming weeks, according to company sources. Some UK employees have been told that layoffs will begin at various TikTok divisions. TikTok employees in the U.S. are working hours late, but the company began notifying some of them on Monday that their positions would be canceled.
The business restructuring announced within TikTok on Monday included layoffs and the elimination of some vacancies, one employee said, covering TikTok’s operations in markets including the U.S., European Union and the U.K. Plans to expand some teams within the company have been shelved. TikTok executive David Ortiz is a former Snap veteran. He announced on the recruitment platform LinkedIn on Monday that he was leaving the company as part of a “larger restructuring” as his position was eliminated.
A company executive familiar with the matter did not deny that TikTok is undergoing restructuring or that the company is laying off workers. A TikTok spokesman did not deny layoffs in response to a request for comment. TikTok has joined the ranks of big tech companies and startups that have frozen hiring plans or made layoffs in recent weeks.
The company recently abandoned plans to expand its live-streaming delivery platform, TikTok Shop, in the U.S. and Europe, once seen as a major new source of revenue. A former TikTok employee who left the company earlier this year said, “I don’t think TikTok layoffs are any different from what’s happening at a big tech company.”
Another TikTok employee said the layoffs will focus on individuals and teams that are not contributing enough to the company, adding that the number of layoffs will be fewer than 100. TikTok has at least 10,000 employees in the U.S. and Europe, previous statements and sources inside the company have said.
TikTok was founded in 2018 and has grown tremendously since then. “Their business is expanding at a pace we’ve never seen,” said Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at New York-based marketing agency Mekanism. He speculates that the restructuring won’t significantly weaken TikTok’s Influence or popularity. “I don’t think a few layoffs will mean more trouble for the company or anything that will slow their momentum. ”
Ortiz, the executive who announced his departure on LinkedIn, declined to be interviewed. But in his post, he mentioned TikTok’s short-lived trajectory. “Working at TikTok has been an extraordinary journey,” Ortiz said.
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