TikTok owner ByteDance launches global hiring spree in middle of coronavirus tumult
- ByteDance expects to have roughly the same number of employees as Alibaba by the end of this year
- The world’s most valuable tech start-up has kicked off a global recruitment programme to fill 40,000 new jobs
ByteDance, owner of the hit short video app TikTok, has just kicked off a wave of hiring it envisions hitting 40,000 new jobs in 2020, hoping to match Alibaba Group Holding’s payroll at a time technology companies across the globe are furloughing or reducing staff.
The world’s most valuable tech start-up is recruiting people for 10,000 open positions, of which about a third are high-level research or software coding jobs, according to an internal website provided to staff for referrals and shared with Bloomberg.
Representatives of Beijing-based ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
New hires around the globe will support its universe of apps from TikTok to the Chinese news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, while strengthening Bytedance’s operations in new arenas such as e-commerce and gaming.
It marks the first salvo of ByteDance’s goal to reach 100,000 staff globally by the end of this year, outlined by chief executive Zhang Yiming in an internal memo last month.
Once completed, the company will boast roughly the same number of employees as Alibaba. E-commerce giant Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
ByteDance is seeking to consolidate its social media strongholds in China and the United States, while spurring expansion in new markets. Its hiring spree contrasts with other start-ups, including SoftBank Group Corp-backed Oyo Hotels & Homes, Zume Pizza and Brandless, that have been cutting jobs or shutting down altogether.
Like rival Tencent Holdings, ByteDance’s social media channels have seen their usage spike after the Covid-19 pandemic confined millions of people to their homes. Now, as life in China begins to return to normal, the employee referral programme is seeking candidates for some 9,900 positions, according to the website viewed by Bloomberg. Just over 1,100 of those openings were for interns as of midday on Tuesday.
The job listings offer a rare window into how eight-year-old ByteDance is investing in future growth. For example, the company is seeking dozens of online tutors to capture China’s online education boom during the virus outbreak, while acquiring talent for music licensing in places from Miami to Mumbai.
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The Chinese app giant is also orchestrating forays into video games, live-streaming commerce and even enterprise software, taking on deeper-pocketed rivals like Tencent and Alibaba.
Overall, ByteDance is hiring some 3,000 coding, engineering and research staff, and about as many people for products and operations, according to calculations by Bloomberg. Beyond China, it is looking to boost headcount by adding more than 100 posts per location in London, Los Angeles and Mountain View in California, and Singapore.
ByteDance, last valued at US$75 billion according to CB Insights, is one of China’s most ambitious tech outfits. It has more than 1.5 billion monthly active users across its portfolio of products from Jinri Toutiao to short video platform Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese twin app.
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