TikTok to close Nashville hub, offers severance based on tenure to 250 staff

TikTok announced that its Nashville office will be closed in early October, resulting in the termination of roughly 250 positions. Employees were told on the morning of August 5 that they would stay on the payroll for a short period before the shutdown, after which they will receive a severance package consisting of one month’s salary plus an extra month for each year of employment. The terms are comparable to recent severance offers from one outlet, Disney and Meta.

Notification came via email followed by a video conference in which the chat function was disabled and staff were instructed to send individual queries to HR. The Nashville staff largely comprised members of the trust and safety unit, which oversees community guidelines and content moderation, and the company has been shifting some of that work to external contractors and AI tools. TikTok said the closure is intended to streamline operations and better align teams for long-term growth, while reaffirming its commitment to a safe experience for its U.S. user base.