ByteDance Executives Are Transferred To TikTok’s U.S. Market On A Large Scale, Causing Concern Among Employees

On October 7, it was reported that since the beginning of this year, many senior executives of ByteDance have transferred to TikTok’s US market to preside over key business areas of this short video application that is popular in Europe and the United States. Among them, some senior executives were transferred directly from Beijing to the United States.

After the transfer, these executives began to master TikTok's advertising, human resources, commercialization, marketing, e-commerce and other related businesses. Some executives have even brought their Beijing-based teams to the United States.

Such personnel transfers have aroused concerns among some TikTok US employees. They are worried that this series of personnel transfers may imply that ByteDance’s influence on TikTok exceeds the scope of public disclosure.

Regarding these personnel adjustments, a TikTok spokesperson said that TikTok has not tried to downplay its relationship with ByteDance. In a large, global organization, it's nothing new for employees to work on different products or in multiple locations over the course of their careers.

Some TikTok employees said that although Bytedance’s senior managers would occasionally participate in TikTok’s business, they usually only approved budgets or provided product suggestions. However, earlier this year, that started to change. Not only are new senior managers transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, ByteDance has also begun to become more deeply involved in TikTok's strategic issues.

In response, a TikTok spokesperson responded that the company’s decisions are still made by the leaders of each business department, and TikTok has not lost its autonomy.