Tokopedia, ByteDance confirm layoff plans in Indonesia

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Tokopedia and ByteDance have issued a statement regarding their layoff plans following the ecommerce firm’s merger with TikTok Shop. The plans were previously reported to affect 70% of Tokopedia’s staff.

“We have identified several areas that need strengthening within the organization and have aligned our teams to match the company’s objectives,” Nuraini Razak, Tokopedia’s director of corporate affairs, said in the statement.

The ecommerce major “must make the necessary adjustments to the organizational structure as part of the company’s strategy to continue growing,” she added.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that TikTok owner ByteDance would be cutting jobs in Indonesia as early as this month, potentially affecting 450 employees – or about 9% of its local team.

However, the Business Times learned from sources with knowledge of the matter that the number could go up to 1,000 and that ByteDance’s announcement is expected within days to a week.

ByteDance previously declined to comment, but GoTo Group issued a statement in response to queries from the Indonesia Stock Exchange. It indicated that it would leave Tokopedia’s business decisions to its management team.

GoTo also denied reports that there were plans to discontinue almost 80% of Tokopedia’s services.

In its latest general meeting, GoTo announced the exits of Tokopedia founding CEO William Tanuwijaya and longtime COO Melissa Siska Juminto from their posts on GoTo’s board of commissioners.

Andre Soelistyo, GoTo’s ex-CEO, has also resigned from the board of commissioners.

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