TikTok’s US joint venture is laying off 250 employees and closing its Nashville office in the United States, according to US labor department documents filed with the state of Tennessee, as cited by New York Times. The workspace being shuttered on October 5, 2026, as part of the cuts is located in Music Row’s Moore Building and mostly housed members of the content moderation team. TikTok leased the impacted space, which spans nearly 145,000 square feet, in 2024.
The official documents further indicated that the workers impacted by the layoffs are not represented by a collective bargaining agreement. The news was first reported by The New York Times and Nashville Business Journal.
TikTok addresses new layoffs
Zanna Crowley, a spokesperson for the TikTok USDS Joint Venture (which operates the TikTok app in the United States), confirmed the layoff report, adding that the Nashville office shutdown was set in motion to “streamline operations” and “better align” the company’s “teams for long-term growth,” Tech Crunch reported.
The spokesperson stated, “We remain fully committed to providing secure, safe and positive experiences for the 200 million Americans that create, discover and connect with what they love on TikTok,” as quoted by NYT.
TikTok’s cuts in the US made headlines the same week, as crafting marketplace Etsy announced it was laying approximately 220 employees, or 12% of its workforce. Its CEO, Kruti Patel Goyal, confirmed that the changes were not triggered by the AI boom, adding that restructuring aims to “improve coordination and speed of decision-making,” according to a Reuters report citing Etsy’s US SEC filing.
The viral social media giant, in the meantime, has held off on revealing further details about this week’s layoffs.
More about TikTok job cuts
Employees at the Nashville office being shut down in October received emails about major changes coming ahead on Wednesday (US time), as reviewed by The New York Times. The US media report further indicated that some employees had already logged out of company-issued devices and were told they would be receiving severance.
In the aftermath of the layoff news, a US-headquartered class action law firm, Struss Borelli PLLC, announced in a blog post dated August 6 that it is investigating TikTok USDS Joint Venture regarding its recent potential mass layoffs in Nashville.
“The WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act is a federal law that requires certain employers to notify their employees, in writing, at least 60 days before a plant closing or mass layoff takes effect. As a result, we believe TikTok employees may be entitled to 60 days of severance pay and benefits,” the firm stated.
Earlier this week, the Irish Independent reported that the mood among employees of TikTok’s Dublin hub is “bleak” amid the impending threat of 667 roles being cut within weeks, with the first wave of layoffs reportedly hitting workers on August 21.
The international media report quoted a TikTok spokesperson as saying: “We are exploring a reorganisation to strengthen our global operating model for trust and safety, including the creation of hundreds of new specialist safety roles here in Dublin, and advancing platform safety through the latest technological innovations.”
The proposed cuts first made news in July when Irish news outlets started reporting that TikTok could cut 300 jobs from its Irish operation. As of now, the company employs more than 2,000 people in Ireland. The purported changes are also expected to create new roles, including hundreds of new specialist Trust and Safety roles in Dublin, in addition to redeploying staff members.