ByteDance on hiring spree in Singapore, says FT

TIKTOK owner ByteDance has embarked on a hiring spree in Singapore, posting 338 jobs in the city state in the past six months, Financial Times (FT) reported on Thursday citing data analytics firm GlobalData.

The Beijing-based company is hiring hundreds of engineers and senior management positions in Singapore for TikTok, its enterprise software business Lark and other products.

ByteDance moved into bigger premises in Singapore last year, taking up three floors at One Raffles Quay.

The firm has not confirmed which international office would be its global hub outside China, but a lawyer who helped advise ByteDance on its new Singapore office space said it "had all the hallmarks of a global hub", said the report. He added: "ByteDance seems to be spending more on this office than any other outside of China."

The company's expansion into Singapore comes amid setbacks in India, the US and Britain, where it has been blocked or accused of breaching privacy regulations.

"I think they are hedging their bets, given the rapidly evolving regulatory environment," said a Singapore-based consultant.

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The Singapore hiring spree will also support ByteDance's push into South-east Asia, the report said.

The company has created an education portal to test out a seller marketplace in Indonesia, the region's biggest e-commerce market.

Within the South-east Asia market, Singapore is seen as "neutral" ground that is viewed more favourably by regulators, said Jayanth Kolla, technology analyst at Bengaluru-based consultancy Convergence Catalyst.

"Singapore is increasingly becoming, for all practical purposes, the official South Asia and South-east Asia hub," he added. "The government has been accommodating and is jumping on the opportunity."