TikTok lays off entire workforce in India, cites government stance on ‘Chinese apps’
Three years ago, India banned TikTok for national security reasons. Since then, TikTok has maintained an office but has now laid off all employees in India.
TikTok’s Indian employees were responsible for the Dubai and South American markets, among others. When ByteDance failed to reach an agreement with the Indian government, it decided to lay off the entire Indian team three years later.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement: “We have made the decision to close our remote sales support center in India, which was put in place at the end of 2020 to support our global and regional sales teams. We greatly value these employees and their impact on our company, and will ensure they are supported during this difficult time.”
According to a report in The Economic Times, the total workforce in the India office was 40 and they will be paid nine months’ severance pay.
A close source has told The Economic Times that “TikTok India employees were told that February 28 would be their last day and were given the feeling to look for other opportunities for some time, as they were told that the restart of operations in India would not take place due to the government’s stance on the Chinese applications.”
In the past, TikTok was an important market for the company, and its user base was second only to China. However, the app was banned due to national security concerns related to the alleged storage and sharing of personal user data with China.
Last December, the House Administration banned TikTok from all devices managed by the US House of Representatives. In the US, his app may face a similar fate as it did in India three years ago.
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