TikTok says US workers will have jobs even if the app is banned

TikTok on Tuesday sought to reassure its American workers that they will still have jobs next week, even as the Supreme Court upholds a law that would see the video app banned in the United States on Sunday.

The message is a shift in tone from TikTok, which has otherwise said it was confident it would emerge victorious from its legal challenge to the law. It also shows that the company does not plan to leave the US in the near term, even if it is banned.

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is fighting a law passed last year that would ban the app unless its US operations are sold to a non-Chinese owner. TikTok sent a message to its employees on Tuesday, acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming decision and assuring employees that they would continue to be paid. The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision before the law comes into force on Sunday.

“Your employment, salary and benefits are secure and our offices will remain open even if this situation has not been resolved by the January 19 deadline,” Nicky Raghavan, TikTok’s global head of human resources, wrote in the statement, which was obtained by The New York Times. “The bill is not written in a way that affects the entities through which you are employed, only the American user experience.”

The law will penalize app stores and internet hosting services for distributing or updating the TikTok app, effectively banning the platform. It would not force the closure of TikTok offices in the US.

The announcement also noted, “Our management team remains laser-focused on planning for various scenarios and continues to plan the way forward.”

The memo, which praised employees for their “resilience and dedication,” was one of the company’s few internal acknowledgments of its legal battle in recent months. Despite the existential threat TikTok faces, there has been little acknowledgment inside the company that it may soon be banned in the United States, former employees told The New York Times in November. Executives have at times made light of the situation, suggesting in an all-hands meeting that it would one day be the subject of a Hollywood movie, some of them said.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a query about its latest headcount in the US, but the message was sent to an internal “US Team News” channel with more than 13,000 employees. TikTok has previously said it has more than 7,000 US employees.

“While we await the decision of the US Supreme Court by January 19th, we know you have a lot of questions and wish we could provide a clear roadmap of next steps,” Raghavan wrote. “We know it’s unsettling not knowing exactly what happens next.”