The flags of China and the USA are seen near the TikTok logo in this illustrated image taken on July 16, 2020.
Florence Lo | Reuters
TikTok announced Tuesday that it plans to hire 10,000 employees in the United States over the next three years, despite a possible ban on the application of Chinese property.
As the popularity of TikTok has skyrocketed, the number of full-time TikTok employees in the US has gone from less than 500 earlier this year to almost 1,400 today.
“In 2020, TikTok tripled the number of employees working in the US, and we plan to add another 10,000 jobs here in the next three years,” a TikTok spokesperson told CNBC.
“These are well-paying jobs that will help us continue to build a safe and fun experience and protect the privacy of our community. ”
The United States is cracking down on Chinese tech companies like never before as tensions between Washington and Beijing mount. The United States says that the communist government of President Xi Jinping could use hardware and software developed by Chinese technology companies for espionage purposes.
Huawei has been the number one target so far, with the Trump administration banning Huawei’s telecommunications equipment on U.S. networks and imposing strict penalties on the company that threaten to harm its business in other countries as well. Huawei denies all the allegations.
It seems like TikTok could be the next target. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is now “looking” at the ban on TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.
The United States government has released a national security review of ByteDance’s acquisition of the Musical.ly app, which was merged with TikTok, Reuters reported in November. The US government is reportedly concerned that ByteDance may be censoring politically sensitive content and concerned with how user data is stored.
Despite the moves, TikTok says it intends to continue expanding in the U.S.
In an attempt to distance itself from ByteDance and Beijing, TikTok hired an American CEO in May in the form of Kevin Mayer, the former Disney broadcast chief.
The largest TikTok offices in the United States are located in California, New York, Texas, and Florida. Key areas for TikTok in the United States include sales, moderation, engineering, and content moderation.
TikTok is currently trying to decide where to locate its international headquarters. The company’s largest office is in Los Angeles, but London, Dublin and Singapore have also been touted as potential headquarters locations.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported over the weekend that TikTok had “put aside” plans to establish a headquarters in Britain that would create up to 3,000 jobs. The report said talks between the UK government and ByteDance had been “interrupted” due to the “broader geopolitical context”.
However, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC that London is still being considered as an option.
.
