TikTok laid off many employees from its African team in June 2024, as part of a broader global workforce reduction. This wave of layoffs followed an earlier round in March 2024, which affected a smaller group of employees, primarily in Nigeria and South Africa.
The June layoffs were reportedly more extensive, impacting over 100 employees across the marketing, content operations, and trust and safety teams. These cuts are part of TikTok’s ongoing restructuring efforts, particularly within its global user operations team, as the company reassigns remaining staff to other departments.
TikTok’s decision to downsize comes in the wake of a global announcement made in May 2024, where the company outlined its plans to reduce its workforce, especially in marketing and operations. The layoffs were anticipated for nearly a year but faced delays due to recent employee turnover.
Despite speculation linking the layoffs to TikTok’s ongoing regulatory challenges in the United States, employees have refuted this claim, asserting that the company is simply refining its operations. TikTok is not alone in reducing its workforce in Africa, as other tech giants like Meta and Microsoft have also made similar cuts recently.
Further layoffs within TikTok’s African team are expected in the third quarter of 2024, marking this as the most significant workforce reduction in the company’s history, which has traditionally opted for smaller-scale restructuring.
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