Washington workers are feeling the pinch astech companies lay off employees.
Earlier this month, TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, announced it would be laying off 65 employees in Washington. The layoffs will take effect on July 28. The impacted employees at the social media app all worked for the company’s Shop department, the e-commerce branch of TikTok.
Tariffs, leading to poor consumer sentiment, could be impacting the tech industry, said Joe Nguyen, the director of the Washington State Department of Commerce.
“When you have consumer sentiment souring, given what's happening with tariffs and the uncertainty, that certainly causes some concern,” Nguyen said.
Without knowing the specifics, Nguyen said that could be leading the company to reduce or orientate its e-commerce platform.
In a statement, a TikTok Shop spokesperson wrote, “As the TikTok Shop business evolves, we regularly review our operations to ensure long-term success. Following careful consideration, we've made the difficult decision to adjust parts of our team to better align with strategic priorities.”
But Nguyen said he still thinks Washington’s tech industry is vibrant. According to Commerce, there are still over 300,000 Washingtonians working in tech.
“We still see technology as a pretty key area for us, especially within our economy because we're starting to move towards data centers with AI and quantum,” Nguyen said. “So I'm not, overall, worried about the industry given the strength that we have in Washington state.”
Ed Lazowska, a professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, said he thinks what’s happening now is normal for the ups and downs of the industry.
Both he and Nguyen attributed layoffs across the industry to increased hiring during the pandemic, and a shift by companies to focus on AI.
“That may mean contracting some parts of the business in order to expand other parts of the business, and some people are gonna lose their jobs as companies change priorities,” Lazowska said.
He doesn’t think that in the long term that will mean fewer jobs, but different kinds of jobs instead.
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