The TikTok executive at the center of a cultural clash with employees of the company’s operation in the UK has been replaced in her role after commenting she “didn’t believe” in maternity leave.
Joshua Ma, a senior executive at China’s ByteDance, which owns the viral video app, “will take some time off” and “step back” from his role as head of the UK e-commerce team , according to an email seen by FT and sent on Wednesday. .
The move follows an investigation by FT, which revealed Ma’s comments at a dinner with employees of TikTok’s e-commerce team in London.
In an email to staff, TikTok said it was continuing an investigation into the allegations.
“As you know, the Financial Times published an article today that contained some discouraging allegations about our TikTok store operations in the UK,” the email told staff under the heading “Maintaining a Positive Work Culture” .
“Hopefully, this painful experience will make us a stronger, closer and better team in the long run,” the email said.
The FT article, which was based on the testimony of 10 current and former employees, revealed how the launch of TikTok’s live shopping feature in the UK had led to an exodus of staff from the e-commerce team. London. Some employees complained of an aggressive corporate culture, with unrealistic goals and expectations that go against British work practices.
Staff said they were expected to work more often than 12 hours a day, starting early to answer calls with China and ending late, as live transfers were more successful in the evening, with overtime. held in internal communications. Some e-commerce team members were removed from customer accounts after going on annual vacation.
“The well-being of our team is our top priority. . . [and] Leadership is 100% supportive of using the annual holidays to fully recharge and spend time with friends and family, “he told staff. TikTok said he was investing heavily in expanding resources, structures and processes to support a positive employee experience.
The email also urged staff to report any breaches of ByteDance’s code of conduct via an anonymous hotline.
Patrick Nommensen was announced as Ma’s interim successor. According to the email, Nommensen led the launch of e-commerce in the UK and has been in charge of the creators ’operations as well as the beauty and other categories.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Nommensen has been working for ByteDance since 2016, when TikTok was launched, and also Musical.ly, a viral music app that ByteDance acquired in 2017. “He knows the business very well and will be a great interim leader. “, said the email.
TikTok declined to comment on the email.
On Wednesday, one of TikTok’s staff members shared a document internally suggesting that keywords related to FT’s investigation be censored from comments on TikTok Shop’s live transfers. The list included the words “Financial Times”, “Article”, “Culture”, “Toxic”, “Joshua Ma”, “Capitalist” and “Motherhood”.
Referring to the internal document, TikTok said: “Although we welcome and encourage independent ideas from team members, not all ideas are implemented and this was never considered.”