Elon Musk is initiating a series of layoffs among Twitter’s 7,500-strong workforce, according to a company-wide email, in a dramatic cost-cut that comes a week after the billionaire closed the purchase on the platform. network for US$ 44 billion (R$ 224 billion).
Twitter employees will be notified of their employment status at 9 am PDT on Friday, according to an email seen by the Financial Times.
“In an effort to put Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” the email, which was received by employees on Thursday, said.
“We recognize that this will affect many individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but unfortunately this action is necessary to ensure the company’s success in the future.”
The email did not clarify the scale of the headcount reduction. However, Musk has drawn up plans to cut about 3,700 jobs, or half the staff, according to two people familiar with the plans, who added that the final number could change.
In a sign that the cuts have begun, an employee said many of them lost access to their corporate accounts and emails on the Slack app on Thursday night.
Workers who lost their jobs were instructed to wait for an email in their personal inbox, while those who stayed would be notified by corporate email, according to the general message on Twitter.
Twitter itself was filled with employees announcing their departure, with colleagues often responding with a blue heart emoji in a show of support. “I’m officially out,” wrote Irene Font Peradejordi, a Twitter researcher.
Ned Miles, UK audience perception leader, wrote: “I have nothing smart to say, I’m just devastated – personally and by the magnificent culture and company we built together and now it’s over. I love you all.”
The layoffs will end a chaotic first week on Twitter under Musk, during which the world’s richest man overhauled the management team, asked employees to work 24 hours a day on new products and publicly discussed plans to shake up the company. on your personal Twitter account.
There has been turmoil within the firm for months since Musk made his first takeover bid, before trying to back out of the deal, publicly mocking his team. After a serious legal battle, the deal closed on Thursday of last week, with Musk paying his original offer of $54.20 per share.
Musk has made no secret of his plans to revamp Twitter, which has long been criticized for its slow pace of product innovation. He previously claimed he could cut jobs and costs to make Twitter “healthy”, and last week he tweeted: “There seem to be ten people ‘managing’ for every person coding.”
Thursday’s email said that Twitter’s offices would temporarily close and all badge access would be suspended on Friday, “to help ensure the security of each employee, as well as Twitter systems and customer data.”
Employees responded earlier by flooding the company’s “water fountain” channel on Slack, an informal employee messaging group, according to one.
Prior to the email, Twitter employees at Blind, a forum for tech employees to post anonymously, shared their disappointment with Musk’s management style.
One described the current working conditions as a “nightmarish scenario that won’t stop”, adding: “Please fire me”. Another comment called for quick layoffs: “It’s psychological torture right now.”
Translated by Luiz Roberto Goncalves
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