TikTok Parent Bytedance To Lay Off Workers; 3,000 Employees At Risk

Bytedance – a Chinese internet technology company and the parent company of TikTok – is set to lay off employees soon. The company has initiated extensive layoffs within its gaming division. Around 3,000 employees are at great risk. 

The gaming division of Bytedance is called Nuverse. Several Nuverse employees will be fired soon. A spokesperson from ByteDance said, “Following a recent evaluation, we have made the challenging decision to restructure our gaming business.”

On Monday, the company confirmed slashing hundreds of jobs in its gaming unit. Nuverse, a video game publisher and a subsidiary of Beijing-based ByteDance, has already fired several hundred people.

3,000 Nuverse employees at risk

A ByteDance spokesperson said in a statement, “We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to center on long-term strategic growth areas.”

The gaming division would see significant downsizing in the coming months. In 2021, Nuverse division maintained a workforce of around 3,000. This figure remained consistent over the past few years. 

Around 3,000 Nuverse employees are at risk amid a layoff tsunami because Bytedance has already initiated extensive layoffs. The current job cuts at Nuverse did not represent a complete closure of the company’s gaming business.

According to knowledgeable sources, ByteDance will discontinue ongoing gaming projects. The company is also likely to sell existing gaming titles within Nuverse. 

Nuverse, which was launched in 2019, has failed to achieve commercial success. ByteDance might fire more employees soon. 

Layoff tsunami

Layoff tsunami continues to affect employees. Mass layoff headlines have become common in recent months. The tech industry has witnessed major layoffs this year, followed by consumer services and ecommerce.

Recently, Barclays Bank, a British multinational universal bank, announced plans to conduct another round of layoff. Barclays’ managerial team, which is led by Chief Executive CS Venkatakrishnan, said that the job cuts would primarily be conducted at Barclays Execution Services. 

Amazon has also laid off thousands of employees. Employees from the Amazon Music department have been impacted by the latest round of layoff. Earlier this year, Amazon layoff affected 18,000 roles from different departments.