By the end of September 2023, ByteDance had hired a total of 1,089 foreign employees and sponsored their H-1B work visas to bring them to the U.S. to work for TikTok.  

Vietnam ranked among the top five countries with workers employed by the short-video platform in the U.S., alongside China, India, Taiwan (China), and Canada.  

According to data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 669 of TikTok’s H-1B employees were Chinese nationals, marking a 50% increase compared to 2022.  

Fourteen of these Chinese employees were assigned to TikTok’s data security department, which is tasked with safeguarding American user data.  

Positions for these employees include roles in data science, fraud prevention, systems analysis, and software engineering.  

Besides TikTok, ByteDance also operates other platforms in the U.S., such as Lemon8, a Pinterest-like application.  

USCIS data indicates that using the H-1B visa program to recruit talent from China is not unusual. China is the second-largest source of talent for U.S. companies during the fiscal year 2023 (October 2022–September 2023).  

However, ByteDance stands out as 61% of its approved H-1B visa applications were for Chinese nationals, far exceeding the 12% average for other U.S. companies.  

For years, TikTok has been under scrutiny due to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. U.S. officials have raised concerns that ByteDance could be compelled to hand over TikTok’s user data to third parties.  

There are fears that TikTok could be leveraged as a propaganda tool to advance Beijing's interests.  

In April, the U.S. Congress passed legislation setting a deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations. The deadline, set for January 19 of next year, threatens the removal of TikTok from app stores if unmet.  

President-elect Donald Trump has promised during his campaign that he "will never ban TikTok," but with his inauguration on January 20, the timeline leaves little room to rescue the platform.  

Despite political challenges, hiring talent from China remains logical for TikTok, given its close operational ties with ByteDance.  

Current and former TikTok employees shared with Business Insider in 2021 that key product decisions are often made by ByteDance staff in Beijing. TikTok employees are also expected to adhere to workplace values known as "ByteStyles."  

The Vinh