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TikTok is set to lay off a “large percentage” of the employees working on its global marketing and operations teams, a report from The Information has revealed.
The number of job cuts is currently unclear, though a significant proportion of the 1,000 employees across the two teams are set to lose their roles.
Several anonymous employees spoke to The Information, and expected that TikTok’s content and marketing teams will be hardest hit.
Employees will reportedly learn their fate through a notification that will be sent late on Wednesday night and early on Thursday Morning.
Those who spoke to the tech news site suggested that the social media platform’s global user operations team will be disbanded. This team currently managers user support and communications.
Those on the global user operations team who do not lose their job will be reallocated to other teams across trust and safety, marketing, and content and product.
An uncertain future for TikTok staff amid divest-or-ban developments
HR Grapevine earlier reported that the embattled social media operator may struggle to cope with the threat of a divest-or-ban bill.
Now that the bill has been signed into law, which bans TikTok unless it is sold to a company with US-based ownership, employees face an uncertain future.
While the scale or reason for the layoffs has not yet been confirmed, with TikTok rejecting requests for comment from major outlets including The Information and Business Insider, it appears the company is bracing itself for a turbulent few months ahead.
“First and foremost, TikTok employs around 7,000 people in the US,” HR Grapevine wrote in March 2024, before the bill had been signed into law. “Any ban or sale would most likely signal the end of their employment, or if a change of ownership did occur, a very unstable future.”
TikTok has delivered on its promise to fight the ban bill if signed into law, and has since sued the US federal government, claiming it violates the First Amendment rights of those who use TikTok in the US.
However, the future remains foggy for the social media giant, and it appears workers are at risk.
The threat of layoffs will further increase the difficulty for TikTok’s HR team in managing uncertainty, wellbeing, engagement, productivity, and retention among those employees who remain.
