TikTok owner ByteDance on hiring spree in China amid US troubles; aims to recruit 10,000 by year-end

Beijing-headquartered ByteDance plans to bring in 10,000 more employees based in China by the end of the year
This is expected to boost the start-up’s global headcount to more than 100,000, hitting founder Zhang Yiming’s recently set target

TikTok

Coco Fengin Beijing

Published: 12:08pm, 5 Nov 2020

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TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance, facing regulatory challenges in major markets including the US and India, is doubling down on hiring in its home market.

The Beijing-headquartered company plans to bring in 10,000 more employees based in China by the end of the year, adding to nearly 30,000 hires in the market this year so far, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

This is expected to boost its global headcount to more than 100,000, a target that founder Zhang Yiming set in March.

A search by the Post on ByteDance’s official career site turned up more than 100 openings tagged “urgent”, notably for its new businesses such as gaming and e-commerce. The positions vary from programmers and technicians to marketing and sales.

Besides first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the world’s most valuable start-up said it is “continuing to expand the scale of [the team’s] business” in cities including Wuhan, Chengdu and Hangzhou.

US will ‘vigorously defend’ TikTok executive order despite ruling

The Chinese entertainment giant has seen its flagship global product, short video app TikTok, blocked in India and face a forced sale in the US amid tensions between China and these two countries. The app has also been investigated in other countries such as the UK and Japan over privacy and security concerns.

However, most of ByteDance’s business is in its home market, where it remains a major internet player and has been moving to diversify its operations in video gaming, e-commerce and online education.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a slump in employment in China but also resulted in a surge in mobile use and online services as more stayed home. Douyin, ByteDance’s Chinese equivalent to TikTok, surpassed 600 million daily active users in August, a 50 per cent increase from 400 million in January.

The company is also pushing aggressively into the country’s booming gaming industry, listing nearly 1,000 new gaming jobs in September targeting university students who would graduate by next summer.

And despite ByteDance’s troubles in the US, its job site still lists more than 300 open positions for its office in Mountain View, California, with roles including those relating to software engineering, product management and creator monetisation.

It is also aiming to add 100 new staff to TikTok’s Australia team by December, The Sydney Morning Herald reported four days ago, citing multiple industry sources.

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