TikTok Plays Matchmaker For Employees, Writers’ Strike Reaches Deal And The ‘Pregnancy Penalty’

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Dating and meeting new people can be hard—we can’t all be like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. But if you work at TikTok, you could have another outlet to meet people. Enter: “Meet Cute,” a feed of posts in the company’s workplace software where employees advertise their family members, friends and acquaintances as potential romantic partners for their colleagues. Interesting approach, no?!

In other news, Hollywood writers and studios reached a tentative deal after a nearly five-month strike over better pay, residuals from streaming platforms and concerns over the use of artificial intelligence. Plus: Lizzo is facing another discrimination lawsuit, and retailers Amazon and Target are ramping up hiring for the holiday season. Read on for more.

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FEATURED STORY

TikTok Has A Matchmaking Service For Employees To Set Up Their Colleagues

A tool within Lark, the software TikTok employees use for work chats, document hosting, calendars and video conferencing, offers personal ads for employees alongside company updates. Dubbed “Meet Cute,” the channel is a running feed of posts made by employees advertising their family members, friends and acquaintances as potential romantic partners for their colleagues, Forbes’ Emily Baker-White reports.

“The Meet Cute section is for introducing external friends to ByteDance colleagues. Do not post the personal information of internal ByteDancers, including your own,” explains a page at the top of the channel. The page notes that the channel has generated over 420 “moments” and garnered over 11,500 “interactions.”

TOUCH BASE

News from the world of work

Lizzo faces another discrimination suit: Pop star Lizzo and several members of her team were hit with another lawsuit last week claiming she condoned a work environment that promoted fatphobia, racism and sexual harassment.

NLRB claims ACLU fired employee for complaining about pay and hours: The American Civil Liberties Union—the nation’s foremost nonprofit freedom advocacy group—has been accused of firing an employee in order to discourage other staff from speaking up about working conditions.

This entrepreneur went from sheep farmer to fintech—and made a $900 million fortune: Terry Clune has started eight fintech companies in three decades to help such clients as Barclays, Wells Fargo and Harvard handle taxes, payroll and marketing in other countries. Having sold just one, he’s already well on his way to becoming a billionaire.

Amazon and Target are hiring a combined 350,000 for the holidays: Amazon and Target will add on a combined 350,000 employees for the upcoming holiday shopping season, according to announcements by both companies last week. Amazon said it will invest more than $1 billion to increase average hourly wages.

Writers’ strike: Hollywood writers and studios agreed to a tentative deal Sunday. There are not many set dates yet, but a number of shows, including “Saturday Night Live,” could return as soon as the second week of October.

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NUMBER TO NOTE

1 in 4

That’s how many mothers have considered quitting their jobs, according to McKinsey’s most recent Women in the Workplace survey.

“Pregnancy can be a transformative experience, but for many women, a positive test also heightens anxiety about one’s career and how others will react to the news,” writes senior contributor Shelley Zalis, who shares ways society can squash the “pregnancy penalty.”

QUIZ

As the writers’ strike nears a potential end, another strike is ramping up: the auto workers strike. Which politician joined the United Auto Workers picket line today?