UNION REPRESENTATIVES HAVE accused TikTok of conducting multiple rounds of ‘quiet layoffs’ in its Irish operations since the firm announced it would be making 300 people redundant as part of an organisational restructuring in March. 

The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), which has a cohort of members who work for TikTok, has written to the firm asking for full disclosure of the number of employees who have been informed that their jobs are at risk in separate, smaller rounds of layoffs since then. 

The Journal understands that workers at the firm have raised concerns about a lack of transparency around the number of staff being let go or potentially let go from different teams, and they also have concerns about the role that Artificial Intelligence is having in replacing functions that have typically been carried out by staff members. 

The terms ‘quiet redundancies’ and ‘stealth layoffs’ mean for a company to reduce its workforce gradually, in small volumes that don’t require public announcement.

A recent report from Morgan McKinley suggested that the practice is happening more so now as major employers are scaling back their workforces in the face of the uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariffs, and the rise of AI.

TikTok workers in other regions, including Germany, Malaysia and the Netherlands  have been hit with mass job cuts as the firm has sought to replace content moderators with AI-generated moderation tools. 

 One worker who spoke to The Journal said that in the area of content moderation this is particularly of concern, as they do not believe that the AI tools being deployed are able to moderate content as effectively as real workers can. 

In July the Irish Times reported that under ten people were told they would be going through a redundancy process, and then in September the Business Post reported that a “handful” of workers were being let go from TikTok’s Trust and Safety teams.

That article reported a “small amount of non-front-facing staff” were going to be impacted. 

However, The Journal now understands that apart from these publicised redundancy rounds, 16 workers were put on notice that they were at risk of redundancy in mid-August from the video sharing platforms livestreaming and customers services teams. 

In September, ten staff were put on notice from the trust and safety department, but additionally, another ten staff members were informed that they too would go through a redundancy talks process from the firm’s Global Monetisation Product and Technology teams.  

Overall, that means an estimated additional 26 workers have been impacted in fresh redundancy rounds since March. 

The CWU has written to TikTok to ask for a clear overall figure and breakdown of the number of staff who have been made redundant or put on notice that their job is at risk since March. 

The company responded and said that it does not recognise the union for collective bargaining purposes, and said that it communicates directly with its workers on matters relating to their employment. 

The company declined to engage in discussions with the CWU 

The Journal has asked TikTok about worker’s concerns on the scale of the layoffs, and their claim that they haven’t been given total figures for the number of workers being let go. 

This publication also asked TikTok what role Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having in replacing workers’ functions specifically in the area of content moderation, and if the development of AI tools is influencing this near monthly rate of layoffs. 

One worker who was let go by TikTok told The Journal that they felt that workers were being used to train AI, and that they and their colleagues worry that this could be influencing a pattern of ‘quiet layoffs’ in the company. 

TikTok didn’t say how many workers it has informed that their posts are at risk, or how many posts it has actually eliminated, since March. 

However, the firm did say that it “strongly rejects” a claim by the CWU that the company’s behaviour shows an “attempt to avoid the statutory thresholds for collective redundancies under the Protection of Employment Acts 1977-2014″. 

The union made this claim in an official letter to TikTok, and in correspondence with several Government ministers. 

“We meet all of our legal obligations, including requirements to notify the Department, and do so transparently. We continue to have thousands of employees in Ireland, which remains a key European hub for TikTok,” a spokesperson for TikTok told The Journal. 

TikTok is open about using automated processes on an increasing basis for content moderation purposes. TikTok claims this is being done partly to reduce the amount of distressing content workers would have to see. 

The CWU has raised concerns that the pattern of smaller rounds of lay-offs within TikTok’s Irish operations suggests “an attempt to avoid the statutory thresholds for collective redundancies under the Protection of Employments Acts 1977-2014”. 

The firm has rejected that claim. 

A spokesperson for Tiktok told The Journal: “We meet all of our legal obligations, including requirements to notify the Department, and do so transparently. We continue to have thousands of employees in Ireland, which remains a key European hub for TikTok.” 

In the union’s letter to TikTok, a spokesperson said that on a near monthly basis it has been having “reorganisations” and “smaller-scale layoffs”.

In August, between 15 and 18 employees in one department of TikTok’s Irish operations reported to the union that they were told that their department was closing.

The CWU says that these workers were initially told that collective redundancy consultations had been undertaken with employee representatives.

It’s understood that these consultations never actually occurred, and when the company was challenged over the issue, they informed workers that an “administrative error” had occurred when they were informed of a collective redundancy process in the first place.

Communications from TikTok management to one employee, which The Journal has seen, shows that they were told: “You received a termination notice that mistakenly included references to collective redundancy measures. I would like to clarify that your role was not part of any collective redundancy programme”.

The union has raised with TikTok that “at no stage” since it laid off 300 workers in March of this year has the company provided a “full disclosure” to employee representatives as to how many workers have been made redundant.

“Nor has it entered into genuine consultation with employee representatives,” the union has claimed.

The CWU is seeking assurances from TikTok that it will take every effort possible to avoid compulsory redundancies.

“A voluntary-first approach should be adopted in line with established practice in Ireland,” the union said.

The CWU has written to the Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke and the Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Niamh Smyth to raise these concerns with them.