The tech layoff wave is not stopping any time soon, it seems, as another giant joins the list of companies that have conducted layoffs. TikTok is the latest to implement job cuts, although the number of impacted employees is not as big as the other recent layoffs.
TikTok Layoffs
TikTok is one of the most popular apps today and is used by over 150 million people all over the world. This makes its parent company, ByteDance, among the most successful companies when it comes to social media.
However, that does not save it from the turbulence in the tech sector. In order to cut costs, approximately 60 employees will be laid off by the social media giant. The divisions that were most affected were sales and advertising, according to NPR.
The number of laid-off staff, while unfortunate, is small compared to the total number of employees that TikTok has. In the US alone, there are around 7,000 employees. Globally, TikTok employs over 150,000 people.
A spokesperson from TikTok said that the layoffs, aside from cost-cutting, were also part of a reorganization effort for the company. Impacted locations include Los Angeles, New York, Austin, and other places outside of the US.
While one of the reasons behind the job cuts was cost-cutting, there are no indications that TikTok is in any form of financial trouble. ByteDance continues to grow even despite the security concerns expressed by the US government.
Even though TikTok is accused of providing US user data to the Chinese government, people are still more than happy to use the app both as viewers and content creators, allowing ByteDance to increase in value which is now at $225 billion.
Cost-cutting and staff reorganization have also been the reason behind many other layoffs from tech giants. As for other reasons, some companies like Google and Amazon choose to focus their resources on emerging technologies like AI.
The Ongoing Layoff Wave
Last year was brutal for the tech industry as employees fear for their jobs as several companies are laying workers off by the thousands. Most were only laying off employees after hiring more during the surge of usage during the pandemic.
With not having anything else to do, people took to social media to entertain themselves, which led to companies needing more employees to keep things running smoothly. As the pandemic died down, so did the hours spent on such sites.
Now, AI poses as another threat to current jobs and opportunities in the tech sector. With the advancement of AI, certain tasks can now be left for AI models to do. Not only can it be more efficient, but companies will also reduce costs as they won't have to pay wages anymore.
The recent layoffs just show that tech giants are not stopping with the job cuts any time soon. The companies that have conducted layoffs so far are Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Meta, Twitch, Riot Games, Discord, Disney, and more.
