Labour Hiring £700,000 Worth of Staff for New TikTok Unit – Guido Fawkes

Labour Hiring £700,000 Worth of Staff for New TikTok Unit

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Guido remembers July of last year in which Rachel Reeves promised to cut “unnecessary” government communications expenditure across the civil service. Sound noises, not to last for long…

The government is now pushing ahead with hiring for yet another communications unit. The ‘New Media Unit’ in the Cabinet Office was briefed as a lean machine to operate outside of the “Westminster bubble” to promote the government on TikTok and Instagram. Guido hears its remit will essentially be to get influencers and volunteers to chat up government policy with some sweetheart deals…

The lean machine’s new batch of staff include two videographers, social media producers, and a designer. So innovative and outsider are the roles that they:

• Can work from Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, or York.
• Can work flexibly.
• Only have to turn up to the office 60% of the time.

The total salary cost of this hiring batch is up to £697,474. A “Senior Insight Manager” will be paid £50,062 to “support the creation of evidence-based digital strategies and messaging frameworks, ensuring that campaigns are tailored, responsive, and impactful” while a “Creator Strategy Lead” will pocket £66,400 for liaising “with No 10 and government departments to align influencer campaigns with government priorities and key initiatives.” The unit has already had directorial-level staff for about four months. On the same week the government is briefing hard on civil servant job cuts this one’s a kicker…