ByteDance cuts its India workforce months after the TikTok ban

According to an internal memo shared with Reuters on Wednesday, ByteDance has decided to reduce its workforce in India. Currently the company has more than 2000 employees in India. 

The decision came after the Indian Government’s ban on 59 Chinese apps including ByteDance’s TikTok for ““stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.”. Following the ban, banned apps issued their responses in order to make their apps reinstated but India rejected to block the ban. 

“We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived…we find that has not been the case,” ByteDance wrote in the memo which was seen by Reuters.

It is currently unclear when the company will make a comeback.

“We simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational…we don’t know when we will make a comeback in India”

The company didn’t provide any information on how many employees will be laid off.