Amid an executive exodus, TikTok is negotiating with burned-out employees

TikTok‘s shaky operating status is causing a lot of its employees to say goodbye, and the ones who stick around are reportedly facing new hurdles. Per Business Insider, TikTok is giving some of its U.S. staff an ultimatum by requiring them to choose between a performance improvement plan (PIP) and a severance package.

Business Insider reported that multiple ecommerce employees at TikTok received the either-or offer. The request comes after TikTok advised U.S. managers to grade their staff more harshly. The company’s performance reviews have become infamous among its workforce. “I have never met somebody who’s passed a PIP,” one staffer told BI.

News of the ultimatum comes on the heels of a previous BI report that revealed widespread feelings of burnout among TikTok’s U.S. employees. With threats of a national ban bringing a doomsday vibe to TikTok, some of the app’s teams have reportedly seen as much as 20% of their workers go on mental health leave at the same time. “I see people change from motivated to ‘I don’t care anymore,'” a TikTok employee told BI

The fatalistic attitude also seems to be trickling up to the top level of TikTok’s corporate ladder. The Information has counted eight executive departures from TikTok since the start of the year. Music head Ole Obermann and North American ad sales chief Sameer Singh are two notables who have said their farewells to the company.

Ironically, these mass departures are coming at a time when TikTok’s U.S. operations seem to be turning a corner. The divest-or-ban law passed during the Biden Administration is on thin ice, and TikTok has established relations with the Trump administration.

Even with those positives, some TikTok employees seem frustrated with cultural clashes that have dogged the app throughout its westward expansion. Working at TikTok is a tough job, and keeping employees around is proving to be easier said than done.