A Storm of TikTok Layoffs Around the World, Unemployment Rates are Rising

TikTok is planning a major workforce reduction by announcing layoffs to employees in various regions. Information provided by The Information indicates that the new layoff policy will significantly impact the company's operations and marketing divisions.

Although the exact number of employees who will be affected by the layoffs was not disclosed, TikTok employees interviewed by The Information said that the impact is expected to be quite large, especially for around 1,000 employees involved in operations, content, and marketing.

In addition, TikTok also plans to eliminate the global operations team responsible for user support and communications. Some employees from the division will likely be transferred to trust and safety, marketing, content, and product departments. This is the latest in a wave of layoffs that hit TikTok in January, where as many as 60 people from the sales and advertising divisions were temporarily laid off.

This announcement comes after TikTok's parent company ByteDance laid off hundreds of employees by 2022, citing efficiency reasons, as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) citing two sources familiar with the situation. These layoffs not only affect employees in Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok operating in China, but also occur in ByteDance's property and gaming services businesses. However, it should be noted that the impact of these layoffs is only felt by a fraction of ByteDance's total workforce of more than 100,000 people worldwide.