TikTok answers challenges with bonuses paid to employees

The Chinese tech company ByteDance wants to pay its employees a one-time bonus. The owner of, among other things, the popular TikTok video sharing wants to support his staff in the current crisis period. According to ByteDance, the coronavirus outbreak caused many uncertainties.

Employees who have worked for at least 26 days in July and August can receive a bonus of half a month’s salary. This is in a letter to the staff, which was made available to Reuters news agency. The company has more than 60,000 people on the payroll worldwide.

The bonus costs ByteDance reportedly tens of millions. ByteDance confirmed the existence of the letter, but did not want to go into any further details.

TikTok has been a lot to do lately. The app would, according to critics, collect “too much data” from its users and they think it could just fall into the hands of the Chinese government. American president Donald Trump earlier issued a decree that TikTok would be banned in the US in mid-September unless the American branch was sold.

TikTok is also under attack in India. The app, like dozens of other Chinese-made apps, is banned in the country. This is aftermath of tensions in the border area between the countries earlier this year.

According to ByteDance, TikTok’s staff have been under a lot of pressure recently due to global challenges. Also the departure of top man Kevin Mayer, who had only been in service for a few months, caused unrest. Mayer was reported to leave because of the tension between the US and China.

At the end of last year, Chinese Huawei promised to reward his staff. Huawei is also under pressure due to alleged espionage practices. In the United States, the company is blacklisted. With the bonus, the company wanted to reward the hard work of the staff in the light of the tensions.