“On Friday, we will begin the difficult process of reducing our global workforce.Twitter told employees in an email seen by AFP on Thursday, November 3, confirming rumors that had been circulating since Elon Musk bought the social network a week ago.
The statement said all employees would receive information by Friday morning when the California office reopened, but did not say how many people would be affected. Agreed washington post:the new manager plans to lay off about 50% of the 7,500 employees. “We recognize that a number of individuals who have made significant investments in Twitter will be affected, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s future success.”the company announces to the employees.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss bought Twitter for $44 billion and took control last Thursday, after an eventful six-month acquisition. He immediately disbanded the board of directors, fired the CEO and other senior officials, and began major projects whose goals must be met quickly. Several engineers reported having to sleep on the spot overnight.
“Farce and Disgrace”
Elon Musk, who first renamed himself “Top Tweet” (“twit” means “stupid” in English), then “Twitter Hotline Operator”on Friday brought in Tesla developers to review the work of Twitter employees. “The ongoing retrenchment process is a farce and a disgrace. Tesla’s henchmen make decisions about people they know nothing about except the number of lines of code produced. It’s completely absurd.”Taylor Lees, the director of the engineering team who says he was fired, tweeted on Sunday:
On Thursday, more and more employees of the Twitter network expressed their anger or acted with humor. “There have been no mass layoffs yet, and everyone at Twitter has already lost their jobs. The job that was described in their contract, the job that they loved, the job with all the colleagues that they knew and valued.”said Eli Schutze, a computer scientist at Twitter based in London, according to his profile. “It’s the beginning of a blank slate, whichever side you fall on.”he added.
Several managers voluntarily resigned
The move confirms a shift in corporate culture that has been widely expected for the California-based company under Elon Musk. Several executives resigned on their own this week, and more than 700 people have already left voluntarily this summer, according to the employee. The whimsical entrepreneur does espouse a vision of freedom of expression that calls for a moderate loosening of the platform’s content rules, disagreeing with the approach of many employees, users, and public organizations. Some employees were also worried about not being able to work from home anymore. Elon Musk doesn’t approve of telecommuting or having to follow hellish speeds like in Tesla.
If you are not affected, you will receive a notification in your Twitter email. If you are affected, you will receive a notification on your personal email about the next steps”said in a message sent Thursday, reminding everyone to check their inboxes “including your spam”.
The pending job cuts at Twitter are also part of a global phenomenon in the tech industry. On Thursday, two Silicon Valley companies, Stripe and Lyft, announced major layoffs as Amazon froze hiring at its offices. Twitter, like other major platforms whose economic model is based on advertising, is also suffering from an economic crisis that is straining the budgets of advertisers.
Fear of a mass exodus
Especially since unlike the Meta giants (Facebook, Instagram) and Google, Twitter has never managed to make a significant profit. With around 230 million users, the platform has made its mark with regular visits from political, cultural and sports personalities. But it lacks the resources to meet its many legal, ethical and technical responsibilities.
The network “has an infinite number of safety and security issues”Rebecca Tromble, a professor at George Washington University, said last Friday. “My worst fear at this stage is mass layoffs or mass layoffs. This would greatly set back an already imperfect system..
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.