Twitter layoffs have started.
The layoffs come a week after Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of companies like SpaceX and Tesla, bought the social media company.
Musk has already fired top executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, and has now moved to lay off about half of Twitter’s 7,500-strong global workforce.
Why does Elon Musk start with mass layoffs?
There were tons of reports this week saying Musk would cut 75% of the staff, but the new Twitter CEO denied the accounts. However, a Slack message circulated Wednesday implied that 3,738 would be laid off, about half of the company’s employees, the New York Times reported.
According to the outlet, an employee wrote to Slack on Thursday asking if the “Red Wedding” had begun — and minutes later, Twitter sent an email to all of its employees informing them that the layoffs would begin Friday.
Here’s the first official announcement from Twitter’s new leadership to staff, a week after Musk took over: a fun game where you can find out if you’re fired or not tomorrow at 9 a.m., based on whether the email appears. in your Twitter account or personal account. pic.twitter.com/tpJsAkiaHp
— Will Oremus (@WillOremus) Nov 4, 2022
“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 read.
The email further stated that if you were fired, employees would be notified via their personal email at 9:00 a.m. PST on Friday, and if they were still employed, would receive an email through their work accounts.
“We recognize that this is an incredibly challenging experience to go through, whether you are affected or not,” the company’s email added.
“It’s a snap by text,” an employee affected by the layoffs told Insider.
The takedowns reportedly started before Friday’s 9am email. People started getting banned from their work accounts, leading many of them to assume they were on the cut list.
“By 11 p.m. PT, more than 1,000 people on Twitter had lost their jobs, according to employees and reports Insider had seen,” the outlet wrote.
Twitter employees said goodbye to Slack, and people continued to hang out in the company’s office on Thursday, sipping a drink, per the NYT.
There are also questions about whether the company has followed the WARN ACT. In the California version, employers are required to: notify 60 days for a ‘mass layoff’.
On Thursday, the California Department of Employment Development did not receive the relevant notification from Musk, it told the NYT.
A Twitter employee who said he was fired on Tuesday filed a related class action trial Thursday.
However, some people don’t mind seeing the back of the place. “I’m actually relieved,” one fired employee told Insider.
Others worry about severance pay, especially if they’re starting a family soon.
Some of the employees I hear on Twitter are desperate for layoffs and layoffs. The work culture there is more than toxic.
Some are afraid to back off against Elon because they don’t want to risk getting fired for some reason – disagreeing with Elon – and losing their severance package.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) Nov 4, 2022
It is also clear that it will be a different culture for those who stay. According to the Times, Twitter’s monthly “Days of Rest” were removed from calendars. An employee tweeted a photo of herself sleeping in the office.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.
