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Brief SummaryByteDance raised employees' pay and incentives for the purpose of attracting and retaining global talents amid intense competition worldwide for AI specialists. Companies like Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Chinese rivals such as Tencent and Alibaba are all racing to hire and retain the best AI talent. However, competition remains fierce worldwide, and salary escalation is expected to continue industry-wide—often referred to as the AI talent war.
ByteDance, the Chinese technology company best known globally as the parent of TikTok, has raised pay and incentives for employees. The company sent an internal memo to all employees on Friday about the new compensation strategy. In the memo, the company stated that it'll increase both the minimum and maximum pay levels for employees at every grade.
We're raising the ceiling for compensation and incentives to ensure that our compensation competitiveness and incentives are industry-leading on a global scale.
Partly based on ByteDance’s letter sent to employees on Friday.
Today’s tech sector is fiercely competitive, especially in AI. Companies like Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Chinese rivals such as Tencent and Alibaba are all racing to hire and retain the best AI talent.
Because these skilled technical professionals (like AI engineers, researchers, and others) are in short supply but extremely high demand, firms are offering bigger pay packages, faster equity payouts, and richer bonuses to keep and attract them. This is often referred to as the AI talent war, and Bytedance's move amid this intense competition is for the purpose of retaining and attracting AI talents.
The compensation overhaul also comes as ByteDance works through major structural changes to its U.S. operations. The company has recently agreed upon joint venture with American and allied investors who will now control the US business to address regulatory concerns. Learn more about the TikTok's US joint venture here.
Bytedance compensation plans for employees
ByteDance said that for its 2025 financial year, employees will be assessed starting from January 15, 2026. Based on these reviews, the company will increase the total annual bonus pool by 35% compared with the previous year, and the budget for salary adjustments will increase by 1.5 times larger than before. This analysis shows that more funds are set aside for general pay raises across the company.
The company also said it will start paying employees more in cash and rely less on rewards that come in the form of company shares such as options or restricted stock units (RSUs). In addition to that, the company is shortening the time employees must wait to fully vest (own) their company shares (equity incentives), lowering the vesting period from four years to three.
Aside the fact that this move makes the equity incentives more valuable, seamless to realize, and a stronger retention tool, it also means staff can access their share-based benefits faster than before.
Furthermore, ByteDance is now moving to a 10-tier job level system (L1–L10), a system that allows employees earn more money and better benefits even if your job title stays the same. This allows Bytedance to increase employees' compensation ranks without needing a title change. The company also raised both the minimum and maximum salary limits for each level.
Notably, ByteDance emerged as the most active hiring company in China’s tech industry in 2025, posting a top recruitment index of 897. Data shows that ByteDance recorded the highest hiring activity score, far above rivals like Meituan and Alibaba.By comparison, Meituan scored 587 and Alibaba Group scored 407.
AI-related job postings also soared by 543%, increasing by more than five times, according to a report from Maimai, China’s biggest professional networking platform.
