Tech Layoff Persist As TikTok Plans to cut Down Its Workforce

TikTok is still looking to cut down its workforce as the plans to streamline its talent acquisition team will begin shortly.

According to a spokesperson who spoke with The Independent, a small but unknown number of recruitment staff based in its Dublin Office, Ireland, will be let go. The Chinese social media company currently has over 3000 staff in its Ireland office.

Employees impacted by the layoff can still apply for other open roles and explore internal opportunities as the social company hopes to hire more people in other positions in the business.

“While we continue to hire as a business globally, we are streamlining our talent acquisition function and as a result, parting ways with a small number of colleagues.”

“Impacted employees have been encouraged to apply for open roles within the company, with some already being offered new internal opportunities. We greatly appreciate these colleagues’ contributions and are working closely with those impacted to support them through this time of change,” the spokesperson said.

This is not the first time the popular short-form video curating company is laying off its staff. In the third quarter of 2022, the company began a global restructuring of its business, including layoff plans. This affected employees in its US and European office. But the layoff did not end there.

Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, reportedly laid off 10% of its workforce in the first week of 2023, impacting mostly staff members in R&D, products, and operations units with low performance.

TikTok has been garnering millions of followers since its launch in 2018. According to Insider Intelligence, the social app will surpass 100 million monthly users in 2023. However, the economic downturn has also affected its business model.

The social media platform reduced its annual worldwide revenue forecast by 20% in 2022. Initially, the corporation had projected its revenue to be in the $12 billion to $14.5 billion range. However, by year’s end, it was closer to $10 billion amidst e-commerce and advertising spending decline.

An article in the Financial Times said that the company overspent on salaries (to recruit workers from rival businesses) and social events, among other things, contributed to the income loss.

This inflationary pressure and the economic downturn have caused the company to begin restructuring, including workforce cutdowns.

Layoffs in the tech space

TikTok is the latest company to participate in the layoff spree that has spilt over from 2022 to this year.

Although it participated in the previous year, its latest decision is coming after some of its competitors, like Meta, have had a huge cut down in their workforce numbers.

TikTok according to analysts, is not looking to make a big cutdown yet, and the layoff plans might only affect over a hundred staff.