Talking to CNBC, 6 people said they refused to be interviewed, offered a job or left TikTok as soon as they learned of the company’s 996 culture, whether through online review or direct experience. Culture 996 is very popular with Chinese business. It comes from the requirement that the work begins at 9am to 9pm, 6 days / week, or 72 hours / week. Meanwhile, the number of working hours in the UK and the US is about 40 hours / week. In the UK, working in excess of 48 hours per week on average is considered illegal. “I stopped discussing immediately” An employee invited to act as a communicator for TikTok said 996 culture is really a concern. When researching TikTok on the Glassdoor recruiting site, the most common downside is work imbalance – insane working hours and life. This person “stopped talking immediately when he knew that they were not very flexible about the location and working policy”. A few weeks later, the person was offered a similar role at ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, but declined. Another senior artificial intelligence researcher revealed that he did not accept TikTok’s invitation even when the employer announced the salary of more than £ 100,000 / year (3.25 billion / year), not including bonuses. The expert also went to Glassdoor to look for TikTok reviews. For this person, the balance between public – private is very important. Of course, online reviews are not the only factor to refuse to go with TikTok. While Glassdoor is recognized as a useful platform when searching for a company’s internal culture, it’s not perfect, and reviews are for reference only. People can post many different reviews. However, 4 former TikTok employees told CNBC that they have had a really negative experience here. A former employee said TikTok is the most “poisonous” office I have ever tasted. “Everyone there is completely miserable and life is too short. In the first year before the epidemic swept, I counted only four or five weekends without work… I know TikTok is having trouble with hiring but in the end they don’t care. People to them are just numbers ”. Another former employee shared that, on average, he had to work 15 hours a day at TikTok. “For them, that is normal. Everyone complained but still accepted, perhaps because of good pirated wages “. This person also dislikes the company’s very opaque culture because he doesn’t get an answer when asking a question about his or her workplace. “Stay away, stay away, stay away” Two other former employees of TikTok concur with the above point. One person even sent CNBC a review of the company on Glassdoor titled: “Stay away, stay away, stay away”. In the 1-star review, there are 10 reasons listed why people should refuse to join TikTok and look for another company. This person criticized the “unbalanced public – private life” to “toxic groups” and “terrible management”. TikTok is expanding its workforce globally to deal with the pressure of becoming too popular. The company seeks content management, technical or policy staff. To improve the working environment, TikTok recruited Michal Osman from Facebook to be the European Cultural Director in January. However, countless people left before. Currently, TikTok employees in Europe are more than 3,000 people, up from 1,600 people in September 2020. Many people used to work at Facebook and Google. A TikTok employee said not to go through 996 culture at the company. In addition, they have rules such as prohibiting meeting on Wednesday lunchtime or not meeting on Friday afternoon. Like any other development startup, employees work hard and sometimes have to work overtime when urgent, said a TikTok spokesperson. Song TikTok has no 996 policy. In the UK, consulting firm Great Place to Work ranks TikTok as the 30th best place to work based on employee experience and anonymous feedback. Du Lam (According to CNBC)

TikTok is growing strongly all over the world. Several tech employees in the UK have refused to pursue jobs at TikTok because of concerns about the company’s harsh, intense and toxic work culture, according to CNBC News. The six said they withdrew from interviews, turned down job offers or left the company after learning that TikTok had a culture of “996” through online reviews or through face-to-face experiences. The 996 culture is the applied pattern commonly seen in Chinese companies. The name comes from the requirement that employees work from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week, and 72 hours per week. Meanwhile, the regulation in the US and UK is about 40 hours per week, depending on the specific work. In the UK, it is illegal to work more than 48 hours per week. Hazardous Environments “The most common problem I found on Glassdoor is the work-life balance, the crazy hours. That situation persists until now, ”said an anonymous candidate. “It doesn’t seem worth it to me. I stopped the conversations pretty quickly knowing they were less flexible in terms of location and work policies ”. Last week, TikTok announced, Chief Financial Officer Shou Zi Chew has been appointed as the new CEO, which could result in the company needing more technical manpower. An anonymous senior artificial intelligence researcher also revealed that he turned down a job offer from TikTok despite being offered a salary of £ 100,000 ($ 139,000 – $ 3.2 billion) a year, plus other treatment. “I looked it up on Glassdoor. It didn’t seem that positive in my work / life balance, which I really value, ”said the person. While Glassdoor is considered by many to be a useful platform for evaluating the insider performance of companies, it is only a source of reference as reviews can be overly emotional at times. However, four former employees told CNBC they had a negative experience at the company whose video-sharing app owns 2 billion downloads. Another former anonymous employee told CNBC that TikTok was the most poisonous workplace they have ever experienced. “Everyone there feels tired, while life is too short. In the first year before the outbreak, there were only 4-5 days of weekends of the year that I didn’t have to work, ”said the person. “Everyone was right when they quit their jobs and I know the company is having difficulty in hiring. But in the end, they don’t care, the staff is just numbers ”. With the same belief, another former employee revealed, the average working day at TikTok is 15 hours. “For them, it is normal,” said the person. “The staff complained, but they still accept it later, maybe because of the good salary”. “Away” TikTok is accused of having a toxic work culture. In a one-star review on Glassdoor, two former employees of Tik Tok urgently warned under the title “Stay away, stay away, stay away”. The article lists 10 reasons why people should “resist the temptation of TikTok and find work elsewhere”. Criticism included “unbalanced work life” to “malicious team” and “bad management”. TikTok has been expanding the workforce around the world as it becomes an increasingly popular social media app. The company needs employees to moderate its content and handle technical and policy issues. In an effort to improve workplace culture, TikTok hired Michal Osman from Facebook as head of culture in Europe in January. But she came only after dozens of people quit her job. “I know TikTok has discussed the work with a lot of people. I don’t think they hire it easily, because there is still a shortage of people who can lead AI labs, ”an AI researcher told CNBC. While some are reluctant to come to work at TikTok, the company has increased the number of employees in Europe from around 1,600 in September to more than 3,000 today, with many joins from Facebook and Google. A current employee told CNBC that they have not experienced 996 culture, meetings are banned on Wednesday afternoon and Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, TikTok is ranked 30th in the list of best places to work by Great Place to Work in the UK. Great Place to Work – often consulting and surveying companies charging prior to listing – rating statements are determined entirely by employee experience and anonymous responses.