(May 21): TikTok told US e-commerce staff to work from home on Wednesday while awaiting emails regarding “difficult decisions”, suggesting the social media company is preparing to cut jobs.

The Chinese-owned company is considering ways to “create a more efficient operating model”, Mu Qing, who took over TikTok Shop in the US last month, said in an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. He told workers to expect “operational and personnel changes to the e-commerce US operation centre and global key accounts teams beginning early on Wednesday”.

The potential lay-offs follow leadership changes last month that included Mu, a former executive with the e-commerce arm of ByteDance Ltd’s Douyin in China, taking over TikTok’s US e-commerce operations based in the Seattle area.

His email, which went out late on Tuesday in the US, promised “compassion and support” for employees through the transition. TikTok has more than 1,000 people near Seattle, with additional offices in New York, Texas and California.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we navigate these difficult discussions,” the email said.

Representatives of ByteDance and TikTok didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Despite TikTok Shop’s quick growth, the video app’s future in the US is in doubt, given the continued threat of a ban should it fail to sell the US portion of its business. TikTok, which has 170 million active monthly users, also faces uncertainty amid US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese exports and cancellation of a tax loophole for parcels of small value.

The video app, which brought in-app shopping to its millions of American users in 2023, is betting on e-commerce to better monetise its popularity. TikTok Shop saw its sales outdo competition such as Shein and PDD Holdings Inc’s Temu in the US just before Trump’s disruptive trade actions.

TikTok’s ascent has come under the spotlight since the passing of a bipartisan law citing national security concerns to ban the social media phenom in the US if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent — an effort that began during the first Trump administration but was thwarted in court. Trump is now giving ByteDance additional time to find a deal to sell TikTok — a months-long process that’s drawn interest from the likes of Amazon.com Inc to Oracle Corp.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee