TikTok Lays Off Workers at Its US E-Commerce Division

‘Following careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to adjust parts of our team to better align with strategic priorities,’ a spokesperson said.

A general view of the offices of TikTok in Culver City, Calif., on April 2, 2025. Daniel Cole / REUTERS

Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok is making job cuts to its U.S. e-commerce division, TikTok Shop, a spokesperson confirmed on July 2, making it the latest tech company to announce layoffs after Microsoft said it was cutting thousands of employees.

“As the TikTok Shop business evolves, we regularly review our operations to ensure long-term success,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to multiple media outlets. “Following careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to adjust parts of our team to better align with strategic priorities.”

The spokesperson did not state how many employees would be impacted by the layoffs.

TikTok has 7,000 employees in the United States, with offices in California, New York, and Texas, among others. 

The Epoch Times has contacted a TikTok spokesperson for further comment.

TikTok Shop launched in the United States in September 2023. The online marketplace features shoppable videos and livestreams, allowing users to directly purchase items from third-party sellers, and has soared in popularity.

According to research from Capital One, the shop attracted an estimated 47.2 million American customers in 2024, up 34.2 percent from 2023, with Americans spending an estimated $32 million per day shopping on TikTok.

Capital One projects that the number of U.S. TikTok shoppers will grow by 5.91 percent annually to 55.6 million by 2027.

The layoffs come after Microsoft confirmed on July 2 that it will cut 9,000 employees, or around 4 percent of its global staff, including those across its Xbox video game business and other divisions.

The company said the cuts are “necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace.”

In May, Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers, or nearly 3 percent of its global workforce.

TikTok’s layoffs also come shortly after President Donald Trump extended the deadline by which the app must separate itself from its Beijing-based parent company or risk being banned in the United States—one of its largest markets—amid concerns over national security over its ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The app had faced a June 19 deadline before Trump signed an executive order extending the date by another 90 days, to Sept. 17. It marked the third time he has granted the company reprieve from enforcement of the federal divest law that was passed in 2024 and was supposed to take effect in January.

In a June 29 interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump said granting the third extension was “no big deal,” adding that he has found a buyer for the app.

“I’m extending that [deadline], but no big deal. We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I’ll need probably China’s approval. I think President Xi will probably do it,” Trump said. “I’ll tell you in about two weeks, a big technology company … it’s a group of very wealthy people.”

In January, Trump said he was open to the possibility of billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison purchasing the video-sharing app.

While TikTok’s U.S. business could be valued in the tens of billions, Trump told reporters during a press conference in January that the app would be “worthless” if it failed to secure a permit to operate in the United States.

If it were to secure such a permit, the app could be worth about $1 trillion, Trump said.