After the ban in India, the short-video app, TikTok’s future in the US is also unclear as it faces off against the Trump administration’s executive orders attempting to ban the app worldwide. This had led to a lot of insecurity and fear amongst the employees.
In view of this, ByteDance-owned TikTok, on August 27, held a virtual town hall meeting with thousands of employees from the US and Europe. The objective was to reassure them of their jobs and to give them a clear picture of their future in the Company.
The hour-long town hall meeting was held hours after Kevin Mayer, CEO, TikTok, resigned after a very short three-month stint.
In a letter to the employees, sent on the night of August 26, Mayer cited the Trump administration’s push for the app’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to sell its US operations due to national security concerns. The news came as a complete shock for all the employees who were informed of it the next morning.
During the hour-long town hall, employees were eager to get answers to questions regarding the CEO’s exit and their job safety. The executives answered questions about Mayer’s departure. The employees were asked to stop worrying about their pay cheques, salaries or jobs
The employees’ uncertainty about their future is understandable as the September 15 deadline to ban TikTok is fast approaching. The employees are internally referring to the day as the “D-Day”.
