Twitter staff braces for layoffs under Musk [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Twitter staff are expecting layoffs on Friday, following a week of drastic changes at the social media company.
• Several senior positions have already been cleared after the takeover of new owner Elon Musk.
• Hundreds of employees said their goodbyes soon after receiving the email on Thursday.

Elon Musk is making a series of purges as the new owner of Twitter. An email told staff that they will be informed on Friday on whether or not they are affected by the layoffs.

The social media company emailed staff, “In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday.”

The Thursday email, obtained by Reuters, informed employees that the offices will be temporarily closed. All badge access will also be suspended “to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data.” The email continued, “If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home.”

According to the memo, staff will be alerted about the layoffs by 9 a.m. Pacific time on Friday (12 p.m. EDT/1600 GMT). Employees who will not be laid off will be notified through their work email addresses. Meanwhile, laid-off staff will be informed of the next steps through their personal email addresses.

Musk already started to purge the company by demanding huge cost cuts and imposing a new aggressive work ethic.

In an internal Slack message obtained by Reuters, Musk directed Twitter’s teams to find up to $1 billion in annual infrastructure cost savings.

Several senior positions have already been cleared out, including Twitter’s chief executive and finance and legal executives. Several others left in the past week, including chiefs of the advertising, marketing, and human resources divisions.

During Musk’s chaotic first week as Twitter’s owner, there were two company-wide meetings that were scheduled and then canceled hours later. Employees had to get information from media reports, anonymous forums, and private messaging groups.

Twitter employees had revered the company’s famously open corporate culture but expected the layoffs following Musk’s cold takeover.

According to two Twitter employees, hundreds took to the company’s Slack channels to say their goodbyes soon after receiving the email on Thursday. They said that Musk was even invited to join the channel.

Source: Reuters