ByteDance hunts for Singapore tech talent in global hiring spree

Singapore

EVEN amid the headwinds of Covid-19, Chinese tech giant ByteDance, which owns the popular video app TikTok, is on a recruitment blitz. The startup, which is reportedly worth US$75 billion, is hiring for close to 80 positions in Singapore in software development and operations, among other roles.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that ByteDance is looking to fill almost 10,000 positions globally, about a third of which are roles in coding, engineering and research.

ByteDance is said to be eyeing the creation of 40,000 new jobs this year, which would put its total staff strength at 100,000, on par with Alibaba.

According to the report, ByteDance is hiring over 100 staff in each of these markets outside China: Singapore, London, Los Angeles and Mountain View, California.

On its website, ByteDance has listed 79 openings in Singapore, most of which require experienced candidates. Of the positions, 26 are for research and development roles, such as software development; 23 are in business functions; 13 in operations and the remainder in sales, marketing, product management and design.

A ByteDance spokesperson told The Business Times that Singapore is "an extremely important regional hub" for the company's South-east Asian operations. The firm counts EDBI, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, among its backers.

"Singapore is one of the most innovative places to do business in the world, as well as a gateway into South-east Asia and the rest of the world. Coupled with Singapore's solid infrastructure and ease of doing business, we see immense opportunity and this is why we are stepping up our investment here," the ByteDance spokesperson said.

While many tech firms are downsizing amid the virus outbreak, ByteDance is a beneficiary of increased online traffic with more people staying at home. When asked about the business impact of Covid-19, the spokesperson would only say that ByteDance "continues to stay resilient and well-poised for growth".

The strong engineering culture of Chinese tech giants like ByteDance has caught the interest of Singapore's tech talent pool, said Adrian Goh, co-founder of NodeFlair, a career platform where companies can apply directly to software developers. NodeFlair has helped ByteDance curate candidates based on its hiring requirements.

Elaborating on ByteDance's appeal to local talent, Mr Goh said: "They place a lot of emphasis on their engineering practices, and a lot of their after-work activities revolve around engineering, such as talks and sharing sessions with other companies. Talent also get to deal with projects that impact potentially billions of users globally."

Besides TikTok, eight-year-old ByteDance operates various content platforms such as video apps Vigo Video and Huoshan. The company also has a Singapore-headquartered subsidiary, Lark Technologies, which offers an enterprise messaging and productivity app.

The company is also said to have considered relocating TikTok's global headquarters to Singapore, London or Dublin, according to a Wall Street Journal report in December last year.

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