TikTok hired over a thousand employees from China last year, despite US scrutiny over its parent company ByteDance’s national security risks.

The majority of hires through H-1B visas between October 2022 and September 2023 were Chinese nationals.

Data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, obtained by Business Insider, showed 1,089 H-1B visa approvals for TikTok and ByteDance in the previous financial year.

Of these, 669 hires were from China, reflecting a 50% year-on-year increase. The US federal fiscal year spans from October to September.

Among those approved, 14 individuals were assigned to TikTok’s US data security division.

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