Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, Twitter will notify its employees on Friday as to whether they will be laid off.
The social media business stated in an internal memo that the layoffs are “an endeavor to put Twitter on a healthy path.”
In addition, the company’s offices will be temporarily shuttered and badge access will be halted.
The multibillionaire will serve as Twitter’s CEO after purchasing the company for $44 billion (£39.3 billion) last week.
In an email, Twitter stated, “We will begin the arduous process of decreasing our global workforce on Friday.”
“We recognize that this will have an impact on a lot of individuals who have made significant contributions to Twitter, but this step is, unfortunately, essential to secure the company’s future success,” the company wrote.
The business announced that workplace access would be restricted immediately “to assist safeguard the security of each employee, Twitter infrastructure, and customer data.
Friday at 09:00 Pacific (16:00 GMT), an email with the subject “Your Role at Twitter” will be sent to every staff.
According to Twitter, workers who are not affected will be alerted via business email.
The “next steps” will be sent to people affected through their accounts.
“Due to the scattered nature of our workforce and our aim to inform affected personnel as fast as possible, communications for this process will occur via email,” Twitter wrote.
“Emigration of talent”
There are rumors that as many as 4,000 of Twitter’s 8,000 positions may be eliminated.
The platform has difficulty generating a profit. One solution to the problem is to reduce the salary bill.
Simon Balmain, a senior community manager for Twitter in the United Kingdom, told that he believes he has been terminated because he was logged out of his work laptop and Slack chat platform.
“Everyone received an email announcing a significant reduction in headcount, and approximately one hour later, laptops were remotely wiped and access to Slack and Gmail was revoked,” he added.
Most UK citizens are probably asleep and do not yet know,” however “I was still awake when it occurred because I was working Los Angeles hours due to my projects.
Another Twitter employee stated he was impatiently awaiting an email confirming his employment status.
He stated that he would likely remain awake late to await the message.
“The migration of talent from this layoff will transform the entire technological business as we know it,” said Mr. Balmain. “The outpouring of love and support has been extraordinary,” he added.
Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, said that certain top staffers were ordered to compile lists of personnel to be eliminated from their teams.
As part of Mr. Musk’s takeover, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance invested in Twitter. Earlier, its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, stated that “a smaller workforce would make more sense.”
Mr. Zhao, speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon, also criticized the platform for rolling out new features slowly, given its employee level.
Pay to confirm
Twitter’s efforts to earn money by proposing to charge $8 (£7) per month for a blue “verified” checkmark were met with criticism.
Those who pay could also have their tweets promoted more broadly and see fewer advertisements, in addition to receiving the verification badge.
Mr. Musk tweeted about his plan, “We must find a way to pay the bills.”
Twitter has not generated a profit in several years, and its monthly user base has been relatively stable at around 300 million.
Experts think that Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, overpaid for the company, given the current economic climate and the lower prices of numerous tech stocks.
However, Brandon Borrman, Twitter’s former head of worldwide communications, questioned how Twitter could justify charging users to remain on an “even playing field” with other users.
It is unclear how the reduction will impact the operation of the platform. Mr. Musk has a reputation for being brutal toward his employees.
According to US media reports, some employees are already working excessive hours to meet Mr. Musk’s expectations following the takeover.
Mr. Musk stated in May that his work ethic standards will be “intense,” but lower than what he asked of himself.
Board axed
As part of the acquisition agreement, nine board members of Twitter resigned, leaving self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” Elon Musk as the solitary director.
It was believed that the move would strengthen Mr. Musk’s control of the corporation.
Chairman Bret Taylor and chief executive Parag Agrawal are among those leaving.
Other senior executives, like chief financial officer Ned Segal, have either blogged about leaving or are rumored to have departed the organization.
US media stated that when senior officials left, several Mr. Musk’s allies joined Twitter.
