In line with major U.S. tech firms, TikTok starts hiring freeze and layoffs - Pi...

In line with major U.S. tech firms, TikTok starts hiring freeze and layoffs

In line with major U.S. tech firms, TikTok starts hiring freeze and layoffs

8 hours ago

TikTok joins the ranks of major tech companies and startups that have frozen hiring or laid off workers in recent weeks due to concerns about the recession.

The short video platform has begun a global restructuring of its business that includes layoffs, Wired reported today, citing five people with knowledge of the process.

According to Wired, today TikTok announced a restructuring plan internally, including layoffs and the closing of some vacant positions, affecting its businesses in the U.S., the European Union, and the U.K. Plans to expand some teams inside the company have also been put on hold.

On LinkedIn, David Ortiz, TikTok Monetization Product Leader, announced that he was leaving the company because his role was being eliminated as part of “a much larger reorganization effort.” David is one of TikTok’s earliest executive hires outside of China, and before joining TikTok, he served as Engineering Director at Snapchat, Spotify, and WeWork.

Wired's report, citing another TikTok employee, said that the layoffs would touch less than 100 workers and are targeted at individuals and teams that managers believed were not contributing enough to the company. Previous statements by TikTok and company sources said it had at least 10,000 employees in the U.S. and Europe.

Anna Sopel, a spokesperson of TikTok, said in a statement that the company often makes adjustments to its staffing to support its goals. "There are a small number of roles within the operations and marketing teams that shifted in focus, that can't be called a 'company-wide restructure,'" she said. 

As the inflation situation continues to worsen in the U.S. and other major markets, companies are changing strategies and downsizing to better deal with the uncertainty ahead.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, froze hiring in May as it tried to re-prioritize its business. In the past month, Microsoft, Google, and Apple have announced that they will pump the brakes on hiring people.

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