Twitter Inc., which is now owned by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, will begin cutting its workforce on Friday, November 4.
Musk bought the social media company for $44 billion in October, and the downsizing of employees is part of the billionaire’s strategy “eliminate half of Twitter’s workforce, making good on plans to slash costs,” people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
“In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” Twitter management said in an email reviewed by Bloomberg. “We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success going forward.”
Twitter Inc. will inform staff members on Friday at 9AM San Francisco time, as per the memo.
According to Bloomberg, amid the layoffs, Twitter plans to temporarily close offices and suspend badge access “to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data,” the memo said.
Adding to the firing spree, Twitter also revoked employee access to email and Slack on Thursday night, causing employees to suspect their jobs were already cut.
Employees have not received official confirmation yet.
Musk wants to cut about 3,700 jobs at the Twitter office in San Francisco, the people told Bloomberg, adding the entrepreneur has begun “dropping hints about his staffing priorities before the deal closed, saying he wants to focus on the core product.
“Software engineering, server operations & design will rule the roost,” Musk tweeted in early October.
Recently, employees “raced to connect via LinkedIn and other non-Twitter avenues, offering each other advice on how to weather losing one’s job, the people said. Ex-Twitter engineers are also using social media to respond to former “Tweeps” looking to land jobs elsewhere,” Bloomberg reported.
As part of his takeover, Musk is venturing into new avenues to make money from the blogging platform, including placing a $20 charge for retaining a Twitter’s account’s verified status.
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