TikTok lays off staff in Singapore amid global restructuring

TikTok Singapore has laid off more than 20 staff from its trust and safety team with immediate effect, AsiaOne has learnt.

An unaffected employee, who did not want to be named, told AsiaOne she received an email regarding a "restructure" on Wednesday (July 1).

The company has reduced its trust and safety headcount here by an estimated 20 roles, according to her.

The team is responsible for content moderation and user protection.

A separate note addressed to the team from TikTok's global head of trust and safety Sandeep Grover, and seen by AsiaOne, said the platform has to stay ahead of new challenges.

"We are proposing organisational changes to help our team be more agile, focused, and ready to deliver on our mission both today and tomorrow," the note read.

The employee said an online townhall was held with unaffected staff on July 2.

At the townhall, Grover purportedly said the decision to "streamline operations" was not taken lightly.

Another staff member from the trust and safety team, who is in his 30s, told AsiaOne there was no indication of a layoff.

A TikTok spokesperson said: "We are continuing a reorganisation to strengthen our global operating model for Trust and Safety, including centralising portions of our workforce within key operating hubs and evolving the way we work to ensure teams remain scalable and agile, while advancing platform safety through the latest technological innovations."

The spokesperson declined to reveal the number of affected employees.

According to TikTok, support is being provided to those laid off.

Online, Bytedance employees from Malaysia and Indonesia said workers from their countries had also been laid off.

TikTok could potentially cut about 300 jobs from its Dublin office too, media reports said.

Last February, the company reportedly laid off at least a dozen workers from its trust and safety team in Singapore as part of a restructuring exercise.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com