ByteDance slashes 1,000 jobs from workplace collaboration unit Feishu

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ByteDance is cutting jobs in its corporate collaboration unit Feishu – which also houses Lark, the platform’s international version – with around 1,000 workers affected. The unit’s leader Xie Xin announced the restructuring measure in a letter, South China Morning Post reported, citing a source in the know of the matter.

Those affected will get compensation or a chance to switch to other roles in the company.

However, the TikTok parent firm might lay off up to 20% of Feishu’s employees in total, or over 5,000 people, mostly in mainland China.

This follows a trend of job cuts in China’s tech sector due to economic and regulatory concerns. Previously, ByteDance has reduced staffing in other sectors, such as in education services due to regulatory changes that affected tutoring services.

Meanwhile, TikTok had done well in the US last year; recently, it reported US$16 billion in 2023 revenue from the US market amid regulatory challenges.

However, it is now facing a potential ban in the country if it does not branch out from ByteDance. The company has decided not to sell TikTok’s US business as a deal isn’t likely to be made within the six-month deadline the US government set for ByteDance.

Meanwhile, Feishu will continue focusing on AI. Last year, the unit added an AI assistant to the Feishu app. This feature can condense meetings, filter messages, and read various files.

As AI continues to be a priority for ByteDance, the company has been cutting jobs across several businesses, such as its gaming division and Pico, its virtual reality unit.

Recently, ByteDance posted over 100 job openings related to generative AI, with most roles based in Singapore and the US.

See also: ByteDance eyes Singapore for genAI push, posts several job openings