TikTok has confirmed that employees in Singapore are among those affected by a fresh round of global layoffs as the company restructures its trust and safety operations, marking the second consecutive year it has reduced headcount in the team responsible for content moderation and platform safety, according to media reports.
The company did not disclose how many employees have been impacted at its Singapore office.
Responding to media queries, a TikTok spokesperson said the restructuring is intended to strengthen the company's global operating model.
"We are continuing a reorganisation to strengthen our global operating model for trust and safety, including centralising portions of our workforce within key operating hubs and evolving the way we work to ensure teams remain scalable and agile."
TikTok said it is supporting affected employees in line with local laws and regulations and remains committed to providing the necessary information, resources and benefits during the transition.
No AI link
While the company said it will continue investing in technology to strengthen platform safety, it did not attribute the latest layoffs to increased use of artificial intelligence for content moderation.
Instead, TikTok said it will continue advancing platform safety through the latest technological innovations as part of its broader operational strategy.
Second round
The latest restructuring follows a similar exercise in February 2025, when TikTok laid off at least a dozen employees in Singapore as part of efforts to improve operational efficiency and better align its workforce with business needs.
Although TikTok has not revealed the scale of the latest cuts, local reports cited an affected employee who said around 20 members of their team had received redundancy notices, describing the atmosphere in the office as "hectic".
Regional layoffs
The Singapore job cuts coincide with wider workforce reductions across TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance.
In Indonesia, more than 450 employees in the technology division of TikTok Shop-Tokopedia were reportedly retrenched, while around 300 jobs were cut at TikTok's European hub in Dublin. Employees in Malaysia also reported being affected by the latest restructuring.
The Creative Media and Publishing Union (CMPU) said that although TikTok Singapore is not a unionised workplace, union members affected by the retrenchment can seek support through affiliated unions under the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).