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TikTok told staff it would be restructuring Irish operations in the area of quality assurance.
tech industry
TikTok's Irish staff braced for hundreds of layoffs as company announces restructuring
Management have informed some staff that their role may be at risk.
LAST UPDATE | 1 Jul
STAFF IN TIKTOK are braced for layoffs this morning after management informed employees that it is intending to restructure its quality assurance operations in Ireland.
Staff have been told that there will be a consultation period involved, and the scale of the layoffs is to be made clear at a Townhall meeting this morning.
It’s understood that up to 300 roles will potentially be impacted.
A spokesperson for TikTok said that the multinational is “exploring a reorganisation” to strengthen its trust and safety operations, which will involve “the creation of hundreds of new specialist roles here in Dublin” and advancing “the latest technological innovations”.
In an email received by staff and seen by The Journal, they were told that TikTok is “considering a proposal to restructure the ADSO operating model in Ireland” to consolidate quality assurance into certain “regional hubs” where it is already being carried out.
TikTok’s ADSO model stands for its ‘AI Data Service and Operations’.
It’s understood that those impacted work mostly in vendor management and content moderation. This involves taking action to combat harmful or inappropriate content on the platform.
In the letter sent to some staff members this morning, management said that if this proposed restructure is implemented it “may reduce the volume of these activities performed in Ireland”.
The letter said that the ambition is to develop Dublin into a “specialised capability hub focused on complex, high-impact work”.
TikTok employs over 2,000 members of staff in Ireland, although it laid off in the region of 300 staff in March last year and has carried out multiple rounds of quiet layoffs since then.
Speaking outside government buildings this morning, minister for public expenditure Jack Chambers said the layoffs are “very, very concerning to see”.
“It does show the uncertainty our economy is facing in the context of the disruptive effect of Ai within the labour market” he continued.
“We need to be very careful about exposing ourselves to further expenditure lines and to protect our revenue base.”
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