Byte responds to performance adjustments, denying that the average person has been employed for 7 months.

This morning, ByteDance held a new session of the All Hands meeting internally, with Byte CEO Liang Rubo, TikTok CEO Zhou Suzi, Douyin President and department heads Han Shangyou, and AI business manager Zhu Wenjia and other top management providing answers to some of the issues the company is facing through an online video livestream. This All Hands meeting focused on the performance adjustment. Regarding the performance adjustment mentioned in the previous internal notification, explanations were provided during the meeting, stating that the adjustment is to weaken internal competition and address feedback from employees who feel anxious about long-term performance evaluations, as the distinction between ratings M and M+ is not particularly high. In the past, the proportion of M+ and above was about 45%-50%, with variations between departments. M represents meeting expectations, while M- does not mean elimination, and receiving M- twice does not necessarily lead to elimination. In addition, promotion flexibility has been increased, as previously two consecutive M+ ratings were required for nomination, but now one M+ is sufficient. The meeting also mentioned that in 2024, the turnover rate for high-performance employees is around 5%, and the proportion of promotions to levels 3-2 and above has increased by 40%. There will be further emphasis on talent identification and selection, focusing on employees with long-term high performance at lower levels who have not been promoted, and requiring leaders to explain the reasons for this. The meeting also announced adjustments to the "active water" policy, stating that performance no longer needs to be at the M+ level. Data shows that after the adjustment, the ratio of "active water" employees to total employees has increased by 5%, with over 100 employees who were previously rated M- successfully becoming "active water" employees. This All Hands meeting also dispelled rumors about the average tenure of ByteDance employees being 7 months, providing data that shows the median tenure of employees at ByteDance is 2.9 years, with an average of 3.0 years; for employees who have left, the median tenure is 2.5 years, with an average of 2.6 years.