Twitter employees are expected to find out if they are to be laid off on Friday as Elon Musk begins mass firings amid his takeover of the company. There have been suggestions as many as half of the social media firm’s global workforce could be cut as part of cost-saving measures.
Musk previously dismissed claims that three quarters of Twitter’s workforce would be fired amid a major shakeup of the company. Twitter employs more than 7,500 people around the world and many staff have already taken to the social media site to confirm they have been dismissed.
Staff have been told everyone will receive an email by 9am PST (4pm GMT) on Friday, with those who are affected by the cuts set to receive the message on their personal email address. An internal email reportedly sent to staff said the job cuts are “an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path”.
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Musk is thought to want to drastically reduce costs at the company after completing his $44bn (£39bn) takeover last week and has since tweeted “we need to pay the bills somehow”. The email said: “Given the nature of our distributed workforce and our desire to inform impacted individuals as quickly as possible, communications for this process will take place via email.
Twitter has also “temporarily closed” its offices around the world and suspended staff badge access. The email added: “If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home.”
Despite the message asking staff to not discuss the cuts on social media, a number of workers have already taken to Twitter to confirm they are leaving the company, with some revealing they have been logged out of their work laptops and internal messaging systems. Musk has promised to make sweeping changes at the company and has already removed the entire board, leaving himself as the sole executive.
He has also pledged to change how the site handles content moderation and suggested allowing banned accounts – including that of former US president Donald Trump – back on to the site. However, this has raised concerns among many users and advertisers, with reports suggesting that some businesses will suspend advertising with Twitter if accounts such as Trump’s are allowed to return.
Advertising revenue makes up the vast majority of Twitter’s earnings, which is why some analysts believe Musk is looking to introduce more subscription offerings as a way of generating new income. His plans to overhaul the Twitter Blue subscription service so that it gives users the blue tick verification badge in exchange for a monthly fee is also reportedly set to be introduced later this month.
Before completing his takeover, the billionaire said in a message to advertisers that he would not allow the platform to become a “free-for-all hellscape” despite previously describing himself as a “free speech absolutist”.
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