MORE THAN 250 employees working for TikTok in Ireland will be made redundant later today.
In February, it was reported that the popular social media platform would be cutting up to 300 jobs in Ireland as part of a “restructuring” of the company.
At the time, TikTok said the job losses were the result of a “redesign of our Training and Quality team that will enable us to further enhance our quality assurance processes”.
It added that TikTok’s “priority is supporting affected employees through this transition to minimise the impact of the changes” and remarked that Ireland remains a “hugely important base for us, and we’re continuing to hire for roles across our business here”.
TikTok also said at the time that it expects the majority of impacted employees to remain in the company, but The Journal has spoken to several impacted employees who have applied for other roles without success.
In one case, an employee being made redundant today applied for close to 20 other positions within the company.
The Journal has been informed by a spokesperson within TikTok that the number of job losses will be more than 250 but less than 300.
Before the restructuring, TikTok employed around 3,000 people in Ireland.
Several employees who will be made redundant today have spoken to The Journal about their experiences over the past few months and criticised the criteria used to determine redundancies.
In October, staff were informed that they would be undertaking a test to assess “policy proficiency”.
This test was sat last November and the results were not released until late January/early February.
As one member of staff who is now redundant explained: “It was stated that the test is going to be used for determining gaps in policy and policy knowledge and things like that and how to rectify it.
“When we sat the test in November, there was nothing being hinted at on a restructuring at all.
“After we sat the test, we asked how we scored and what was identified and were told we might not get the results as the purpose is just to check on knowledge gaps and things.
“I got my results a week before the redundancy process began and it turned out that the test was part of the criteria to decide who would be made redundant.
“We weren’t allowed to review the results, they just gave the result and that was it.”
Another employee now being made redundant told The Journal that had they been aware of the importance of the test, they would have studied intensely.
The Journal has seen correspondence from TikTok answering some concerns staff had about the test and how it was used.
In an FAQ style document, one heading states: “Why were we not told that this test would be used to determine selection in the restructure?”
The answer reads: “As part of the restructure, it was decided to use the test that had been completed recently as the best gauge of policy proficiency.”
The document noted that the test was “conducted across a very large population” of the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) operations.
A spokesperson for TikTok told The Journal that such tests are conducted on a regular basis and that staff should have a high level of knowledge.
It was also stated that while the test was not initially linked to the restructuring, it was latterly decided to use test scores as one of the criteria of the restructuring selection.
Some staff have also criticised the “insensitive” way in which some things have been communicated, blaming this on a lack of communication between departments.
For example, a mass email sent on 28 March informing staff that those who were rated ‘M’ and above in their performance reviews (‘M’ means an employee is meeting expectations) will receive a “one-time supplement to the 2023 Annual Bonus”.
However, the email also stated: “The supplemental grant date is 25 April. Employees who are still active on this date will receive it.”
“It’s fair enough that TikTok wants to do this,” said one employee.
“But why wouldn’t you wait until tomorrow to send this email, instead of showing it in front of everyone when we’re being let go in two weeks.”
Another employee told The Journal that there was a party in the office on the day an email was sent to staff outlining the terms of the redundancy package.
The email was sent on a day of double celebrations in the office – a pre-St Patrick’s Day party and celebrations for the anniversary of ByteDance, which is TikTok’s parent company.
“They were handing out gifts and merchandise, and there were little cakes,” the employee said.
“There was loud music on one of the floors, and face painting for St Patrick’s Day, and people dressed up in St Patrick’s Day themed clothing.
“That felt bad, ‘why are you celebrating something when I’m losing my job?’ I thought, ‘how can they be that stupid?’”
This employee also pointed to a lack of communication between departments resulting in the sending out of communications or holding of events that can be viewed as being insensitive when hundreds of staff are facing redundancy.
A spokesperson for TikTok said there were no company wide events on this date, but acknowledged that office space was booked for a “team building gathering” and that finger food was provided and people were instructed to wear green.
Staff outside TikTok’s offices in Dublin yesterday were given leaflets by People Before Profit reps, stating that “TikTok has no real need to let workers go in Dublin”.
In a statement to The Journal, People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy said: “Tiktok’s parent company, ByteDance, has just announced record profits of $25 billion, up almost 80% on the previous year.
“Yet they are planning to make hundreds of workers redundant, including redundancies in Ireland.
“There is no justification for these job cuts in a massive and profitable corporation.
“We want to help TikTok workers in Ireland to get organised in a trade union to resist these redundancies and save jobs.”
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