TikTok and ByteDance employees are bracing for possible layoffs after the company informed staff it would announce “organizational and personnel changes” early Wednesday morning, according to a memo viewed by Business Insider.
The changes would impact workers in the company’s global e-commerce business, TikTok Shop, which has had several rounds of layoffs this year.
“Over the past month, we have assessed how we can best support our evolving Global E-commerce business in alignment with our mission and evolving goals in the market,” the company wrote in the memo.
These changes come from “careful analysis of how to create more efficient operating models for the team’s long-term growth,” the company wrote.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
TikTok’s US e-commerce team has been under scrutiny from leadership at its parent company, ByteDance, this year. The division’s top executive told staff in a February all-hands call that the country failed to meet its performance goals in 2024. The division has faced new obstacles in 2025 after Trump hiked tariffs on China, where many of TikTok’s global sellers are based. Weekly US order volume fell in mid-May compared to mid-April after tariffs went into effect, BI previously reported.
The company has trimmed staff this year through a mix of layoffs and performance reviews, during which TikTok has offered some people a choice between performance-improvement plans or exits with severance. As US team members have left the company, leaders from China and Singapore with experience on TikTok’s Chinese sister app, Douyin, have taken their place, staffers previously told BI.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
The organizational changes come amid broader uncertainty for TikTok’s US team members. The company is negotiating with the Trump administration over a 2024 law that required ByteDance to divest from TikTok’s US assets or face a potential ban. Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law through executive orders amid discussions.
The uncertainty is taking its toll on one staffer who received the message Tuesday evening that their team would be impacted by the organizational changes. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak about the company, and their identity is known to BI.
“I think for many of us, we just want clarity,” the employee said. “These eternal extensions make no sense for anyone who works here. How can we plan our jobs and lives if every 90 days we might get banned or sold?”
Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at dwhateley@businessinsider.com or Signal at @danwhateley.94. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.
