TikTok plans to employ 200 more people in Ireland over the next few months, having already grown its workforce here hugely during the past 10 months.

The social media company has announced plans to raise its employee numbers here to 1,100 by early next year – having employed a mere 20 people in January.

At the beginning of 2020, it established its EMEA Trust & Safety Hub in Dublin, to sit alongside Mountain View and Singapore as one of three regional centres designed to further enhance its localised approach to content policy.

The goal of its team in Dublin is to ensure its overall approach complements local culture and context, and work closely with regional regulators, policymakers, government and law enforcement agencies in pursuit of the highest standard of user safety possible, the company said.

Policymaking, product and process 

Beginning with fewer than 20 people at the start of the year, there are now nearly 600 people based in Dublin. Its user safety strategy, decision-making and enforcement function for Europe and the UK are led by this team, with leaders spanning functions including policymaking, product and process, incident management and quality assurance, as well as experts in areas such as minor safety and hate speech.
 
Today, more than 100 million people in Europe are active on TikTok every month. 
 
"With this community growth also comes the need for the TikTok team to further expand and develop," said the company. "While our initial focus was on establishing and growing this hub, Ireland is an important centre for more than just trust and safety.

"We have nearly 900 employees in Dublin today, and we expect to create at least another 200 roles over the next three months, bringing our total headcount in Ireland to more than 1,100 by January 2021.  
 
"A key function is our European data protection and privacy team, which we have built out with the appointment of both our head of privacy for EMEA and data protection officer earlier this year.

Joint data controller

"These appointments – and the expanding wider teams supporting both – complement our decision to make TikTok's Irish company the joint data controller for our users across the EEA and Switzerland in order to help better manage and safeguard user data.

"Related to this, we also intend to establish a data centre in Ireland by 2022, a €420 million investment creating hundreds of new jobs that will see Ireland become the home for TikTok's European user data once operational.
 
"One further important part of our expanding Irish operations is our commercial business – brands are a welcome part of the TikTok community and no matter how big or small your business, we believe your brand deserves to be discovered here.

"We believe that SMBs [small and medium-sized businesses] are the backbone of the global economy and the engines of growth in Europe. Ireland is the designated hub of our European SMB business, with a head of SMB and expanding team dedicated to supporting businesses to engage the TikTok community and grow their business."
 
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, said: “TikTok is an amazing success story, made even more remarkable by the short period of time in which it has been operational. Its rise globally has been mirrored by its impressive growth in Ireland – from just 20 employees at the start of 2020 to over 900 today.

"I welcome TikTok’s commitment to Ireland and its pledge to increase numbers to over 1,100 in 2021. These are high quality jobs, but more specifically, they are aimed at ensuring that people can use the app safely while upholding the highest data protection standards.

'Hundreds of new jobs' 

“TikTok’s decision to build a new data centre in Ireland will create hundreds of new jobs, and the investment affirms the quality of the Irish workforce, while underlining the government’s commitment to keep Ireland at the forefront of digital innovation.”
 
CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan said: “News of TikTok’s rapid expansion of its operations here is very welcome; its ability to scale up to this degree so quickly speaks to the strength of Ireland’s offering generally and in particular our skills pool and vibrant technology ecosystem.

"It puts TikTok’s Irish site at the centre of its global operations and in doing so, demonstrates huge commitment by the company to Ireland. Growth in job numbers – from just 20 at the beginning of the year to 900 today and with a further plan to reach 1100 over the next three months is particularly welcome. I wish TikTok continued success with its operations here.”