Tell it to the steel workers

Being a foreign concern, Tik Tok doesn’t seem to understand that the threat of losing jobs has not historically saved companies in the USA:

TikTok tells Axios it plans to add thousands of jobs in the U.S. over the next few years — ripping a familiar page from the “companies under fire” playbook.

The big picture: Chinese-owned TikTok is working to distance itself from Beijing in the face of a threatened ban from the Trump administration and broader scrutiny out of Washington, where policymakers are looking to blunt China’s influence and economic might.

Driving the news: TikTok plans to add 10,000 jobs in the U.S. in the next three years as user growth explodes, spokesperson Josh Gartner told Axios.

  • TikTok’s U.S. job growth has already nearly tripled this year, going from almost 500 employees Jan. 1 to just under 1,400.
  • The company plans to hire for jobs in engineering, sales, content moderation and customer service, with a focus on growing workforces in California, New York, Texas, Florida and Tennessee, Gartner said.
  • “It’s supporting the tremendous growth in the country and follows our strategy of building out teams where we have users,” Gartner told Axios.

Between the lines: TikTok’s ongoing hiring spree also includes the addition of more than 35 lobbyists meant to convince the Trump administration and lawmakers of the company’s independence from China, according to a New York Times report.

There is something very ironic about a Chinese company warning about the potential loss of American jobs, considering how many American jobs have been lost over the last 50 years to free trade dogma.