According to several media sources, Twitter, which was just purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, intends to let go of a quarter of its workers as part of what is anticipated to be a first round of layoffs.
25% of Twitter’s personnel will be let go as a result of the company’s first wave of layoffs. The social networking platform currently employs about 7,000 people, or about 2,000 people, or one-fourth of the total. Elon Musk fired important executives, including CEO Parag Aggarwal, after the $44 billion takeover was completed.
The negotiations concerning the job reduction were overseen by celebrity attorney Alex Spiro, a longtime Musk legal counsel, according to the Washington Post. Staff at Twitter had been bracing for layoffs ever before the arrangement was made public in April, and Musk brought up the idea of cost savings to banking partners when he was first looking for funding for the acquisition.
Although earlier reports said Musk intended to cut staff by 75%, new sources claimed Musk assured Twitter employees that this wasn’t the case last week.
According to a Saturday New York Times article, Musk ordered layoffs before Nov. 1, when employees were due to get stock awards as part of their compensation. Musk also mandated workforce reductions across the company, with certain teams being affected more than others.
Although it was impossible to determine how many jobs might be lost, managers were told to compile lists of potential layoff candidates, according to the journal. The Times said that the cuts might begin soon, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter.
Musk denied the charge. When a Twitter user asked about the layoffs, Musk responded, “This is untrue.”
A Reuters request for comment, however, did not receive a prompt response from Twitter. As previously reported by Bloomberg, the company scheduled a staff meeting for the following Wednesday, but some employees did not receive invitations, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
After the high-profile $44 billion purchase of the social media network was finalised on Thursday, Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and Chief Legal and Policy Officer Vijaya Gadde.