TikTok Lays Off More U.S. Employees Ahead of Potential Divestment

TikTok has laid off several U.S. employees from its e-commerce unit after the division failed to meet performance expectations in 2024. This marks the second round of job cuts at the ByteDance-owned short video platform.

According to a report by Business Insider, the affected employees were part of TikTok’s E-commerce Governance and Experience team, which oversees marketplace safety for users, sellers, and creators on TikTok Shop.

The portal had earlier reported that TikTok’s U.S. e-commerce team has been under mounting pressure this year after falling short of expectations, drawing criticism from global leadership. In February, top executive Bob Kang publicly called out the team’s shortcomings during a company-wide meeting. The underperformance led to low scores in March’s annual reviews, resulting in some employees being placed on performance-improvement plans, while others were let go with severance packages.

This month’s layoffs follow a previous round of cuts in February, reportedly targeting TikTok’s global Trust and Safety team, which is responsible for broader content moderation unrelated to shopping.

The restructuring at the ByteDance-owned company comes amid a period of uncertainty for TikTok, following a 2024 U.S. law requiring its parent company to divest from the app. After ByteDance failed to comply, TikTok briefly shut down its operations in the U.S. However, President Donald Trump has since instructed the attorney general not to enforce the law.

TikTok Divestment: Where Things Stand

On April 10, President Donald Trump said that a potential deal to spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations remains “very much on the table.”

Earlier reports indicated that the Trump administration had proposed a deal to establish a new U.S.-based company to manage TikTok’s American operations. This new entity would be majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors, with the aim of reducing Chinese ownership.

Despite criticism from several U.S. senators, Trump defended the proposed agreement, stating, “We have a deal with some very good people, some very rich companies that would do a great job with it, but we’re going to have to wait and see what’s going to happen with China.” Speaking from the Oval Office, he confirmed the deal is still under consideration.

Earlier this month, Trump extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban. The new deadline is June 19, when the ban is scheduled to take effect. This is the second time Trump has postponed enforcement of the ban, which was originally set for January.