TikTok laid off several employees from its African team as part of a broader wave of global layoffs announced earlier in the year.
The ByteDance-owned company had already started trimming roles within the African team as early as March 2024, before officially notifying staff of the impending layoffs in May.
The June layoffs hit multiple departments, including content operations, marketing, and trust and safety, with further cuts anticipated in the third quarter of 2024, sources said. Although the exact number of affected employees remains unclear, it is estimated that more than half of the African team, which consists of at least 100 members based in South Africa and Nigeria, were let go.
Some media outlets have speculated that the layoffs are connected to TikTok’s ongoing regulatory challenges in the United States.
This comes after President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a potential ban in the US. However, an unnamed executive from TikTok refuted this narrative, stating, “The changes are not a reaction to anything. It is a function of assessing the business on an ongoing basis and making necessary changes.”
According to The Information, this marks TikTok’s most significant round of layoffs to date, although the company has historically preferred smaller team reorganizations.
TikTok isn’t alone in reducing its workforce in Africa; tech giants Meta and Microsoft have also downsized their African teams while continuing to emphasize their commitment to the continent.
