TikTok is trying hard to restart its operations in India for the last few months. The company was expecting to start its operations in 2021. With the latest statement by the Indian government about continuing the ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps, the company has lost hope. Finally, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has told its employees that it will be reducing the number of employees in India.
Why is ByteDance Reducing the Workforce in India?
It is known that India banned more than 250 Chinese apps including TikTok since June 2020. Some of the apps like PUBG Mobile and TikTok were trying to start their operations. These apps made few changes as per the guidelines given by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY).
TikTok expected that the ban will be removed in few months. With that calculation, they retained all employees as it is with minimal salary cut. TikTok was banned in June 2020.
“We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived and that we would be able to resolve this quickly. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case. Many of you have patiently waited to hear how this would play out, which has been very stressful. Thank you for your continued belief and trust in us,” wrote Vanessa Pappas and Blake Chandlee in a memo to India employees as per TechCrunch report.
Recently, few Chinese apps submitted a letter in MeitY for reinstating their apps. Their hopes faded when MeitY announced that the ban will continue on these apps. ByteDance is frustrated with no clear directions from the Indian government about the future of TikTok.
But now, the matter is going out of ByteDance’s hand. The company has no other option than to reduce the team members. ByteDance told its employees that the company will retain only the core team. ByteDance shared this news with its employees on 26 January 2021.
ByteDance Future in India
ByteDance supported 2000+ employees for the last 7 months with a hope to start TikTok again. ByteDance has no choice but to scale back the employee size. There is still a ray of hope to relaunch the app that will help millions of users, creators, educators, and influencers.
Since the TikTok ban, these employees were helping ByteDance to develop other apps that are not banned in India. The company instructed the employees to not reveal about these apps for avoiding unnecessary limelight.
As per the latest reports, ByteDance stopped the marketing of its products in India. If things continue like this, then the day is not far when ByteDance may exit India.
