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TikTok is laying off hundreds of workers globally from its workforce, including a significant number in Malaysia, the company announced on Friday as it pivots toward higher reliance on AI for content moderation. Reuters earlier reported that over 700 jobs were lost in Malaysia. The company owned by China’s ByteDance, later released a statement that fewer than 500 employees were affected in the country.
According to company sources, employees – most of whom are staff in the content moderation team – were informed of their dismissal by email late Wednesday.
TikTok has confirmed the move after Reuters inquiries, stating that it will impact hundreds of employees around the world as part of a broader effort to optimise its moderation operations.
TikTok depends on both automated detection and human moderators to review content posted on the site.
ByteDance has more than 110,000 employees across more than 200 cities globally, according to the company website.
The tech firm will also add to the number of layoffs next month as part of efforts to declutter some of its regional operations, said one source.
“We’re making these changes as part of our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our global operating model for content moderation,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
The company expects to spend $2 billion globally this year on trust and safety and will continue to improve efficiency, with 80 per cent of content violating guidelines now removed by automated technologies, the spokesperson said.
The layoffs were first reported by business portal The Malaysian Reserve on Thursday.
The job cuts occur as global technology firms face greater regulatory pressure in Malaysia, where the government has asked social media operators to apply for an operating licence by January as part of an effort to combat cyber offences.
Malaysia recently reported a sharp increase in harmful social media content, which called for higher monitoring by the platforms, such as TikTok.