‘We knew it was on the horizon, but were not aware of the scale’ – TikTok workers reeling from news of job losses
Workers at the Chinese-owned social media giant knew redundancies were likely since early this year. The confirmation on Wednesday was still shocking, particularly the scale of what they face.
Up to 300 of them are set to lose their jobs, 10pc of the workforce.
They come from around the globe, from a range of sectors. Some have degrees in law. Many rent apartments in the city centre, and work on a hybrid basis. In-office days are spent at a former An Post sorting office, a seven-storey, modern, spacious HQ in the Docklands with rest areas, meeting rooms, mini canteens and glass lifts.
“For the past couple of weeks staff have known this was on the horizon,” said John Bohan, data organiser at the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), which has members at TikTok. “They weren’t aware of the scale. There’s a real shock at that. They fall into two camps. They fight or they freeze. It’s a very normal reaction to a big shock.
“Those who are not affected in this round are very conscious that there could be more on the horizon. A lot are locked into expensive rent and fixed-term leases. They are worried. You only have to take a look at the job market in the sector and the political direction from the US to cut back on this. There are less checks and balances. It’s a very difficult time.”
He was referring to the fact that many facing redundancy work in “trust and safety” teams at the video-sharing platform.
This is essentially content moderation, the weeding out of offensive material.
“TikTok would have been the golden goose in terms of trust and moderation”, he said. “It’s a more secure and better paid part of the industry”.
He said the workforce’s age range tends to be from mid-20s to early 50s and the pay is considered good, at upwards of €45,000 a year.
In a letter to Enterprise Minister Peter Burke yesterday, Fionnuala Ní Bhrógáin, head of organising at the CWU, said the job-loss announcement “has come as an enormous shock to staff and has caused huge distress and angst among affected workers”.
She said one way to mitigate the number of redundancies is by adopting a “voluntary-first” approach.
In a separate letter to Maroua Bouyahya, head of trust and safety operations EMEA at TikTok, she said members are deeply concerned about the scale of the proposed redundancies and again called for a voluntary-first approach.
She claimed staff believe there is a “culture of silence” that makes it impossible for them to discuss the threat to their future.
Speaking as he left a UK-Ireland Summit in Liverpool yesterday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said he did not know the specifics of the TikTok decision. He said he did know there had been a period of adjustment in many large tech companies across the world, which have been scaling back the size of their workforces.
But there are lots of other opportunities in those sectors, he said, and he expects Ireland and Dublin to continue to be a base for growth and good jobs.
TikTok plans to cut up to 300 jobs at Dublin base, government told
TikTok plans to cut up to 300 jobs at Dublin base, government told
The social media giant is seeking to shed up to 10pc of its workforce in Dublin as it fights for survival in the US against a ban by Donald Trump
TikTok is seeking to let hundreds of workers go from its base in Dublin, which employs 3,000 staff.
The Irish government has been informed of the decision, which is expected to affect up to 300 workers, or 10pc of the tech giant’s workforce in Ireland.
A spokesperson for TikTok said that the company could not currently comment during an ongoing process.
Last month, the social media company informed staff that cuts were coming, with its trust and safety divisions set to be hit hardest.
Dublin hosts TikTok’s largest European operation and is the location for its international transparency and accountability centre.
“The Department received a collective redundancy notification in relation to potential redundancies at Tiktok Technology Limited,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise.
TikTok employees are shocked at the extent of the cuts that are being threatened in Ireland. The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) has been supporting TikTok staff since the news broke last month that job cuts were possible and their worst fears have now materialised, the CWU said.
The organisation called on TikTok management to explore all available options to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies. Deputy General Secretary, Ian McArdle, said: “The CWU’s Digital and Techworker Alliance (DATA) has seen significant growth in membership as more and more workers in Ireland’s tech and digital sectors see trade union membership as the only safe option to challenge these job cuts”.
TikTok is fighting for its life in the US, after Congress and judicial courts moved to ban the app on national security grounds.
Under the American legal and congressional initiative, TikTok must be divested from its Chinese owner, Bytedance, or face being banned.
The Irish Data Protection Commissioner is set to announce a draft decision on its investigation into whether TikTok inappropriately transferred data between its European and Chinese operations, contrary to EU law.
TikTok is not the only tech giant to be letting people go. Earlier this year, Meta announced it was going ahead with plans to cut up to 100 people from its 2,000-strong base in Dublin. However, a spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg’s company said that the roles would be backfilled and that those being let go were ‘low performers’.
Meta has cut almost a third of its workforce in Ireland over the last two years.
