“Nearly 50% of the workforce will be affected” by the layoffs, says an email accessed by the AFPwhich was sent to Twitter employees who lost their jobs after buying the company for $ 44 billion.
Company employees were called to stay at home on Friday, November 4, pending the round of layoffs, as part of a corporate restructuring initiated by Musk.
The Californian company communicated its decision to each employee by email and announced the temporary closure of the offices.
“As announced today, Twitter is downsizing to help improve the health of the company. These decisions are never easy and it is with regret that we write to inform you that your position on Twitter is affected. Today (Friday) is its last. day of work ”, indicates one of the emails sent to employees to which the company has had access. AFP.
Workers have been preparing for downsizing since Musk completed his $ 44 billion acquisition of the company last week, moving swiftly to dissolve its board of directors and fire its chief executive and top manager.
reactions on the net
Some workers had already learned on Friday 4 that they had been fired and turned to the Blue Bird network to greet their colleagues.
“I don’t have a job,” former employee Blake Herzinger tweeted, while others reported losing access to the company’s servers and email accounts.
Spoiler alert: I don’t have a job. https://t.co/jO7wJqUAT4
– Blake Herzinger (@BDHerzinger) November 4, 2022
An email sent to Twitter employees on Thursday, Nov.3 told them not to show up for work on Friday.
“Our offices will be temporarily closed and all login credentials will be suspended,” reads the message. He also noted that Twitter is going through an “incredibly busy” time.
“We recognize this will impact a number of people who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but unfortunately this action is necessary to ensure the company’s future success,” he said.
On Thursday evening, five recently fired Twitter employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company for failing to receive the 60-day notice required by US law for mass layoffs, according to the text of the complaint the company consulted. AFP.
Read more: Twitter Blue: what is the difference between verifications
Twitter without employees from Mexico
This November 4th, Twitter Mexico became a trend in that social network because users expressed their opinions with multiple messages.
“If you are looking to hire talented people who will leave @TwitterMexico today, here are my tips for working with them and forming a team of strategic and creative excellence, as well as innovation and technology,” posted @PistolaMendoza.
“Well, nothing, it was really cool working on Twitter. Now to fly to a new #OneTeam Open nest for business and freelance. Let’s do it, ”@Geraljaja said.
Pedro Porto, Twitter Next director for Latin America, shared a photograph showing Twitter Mexico members being fired.
According to international media, they revealed that the layoffs in the case of Mexican staff are related to the content curation area.
Also read: Elon Musk will not allow blocked accounts to return to Twitter and this is what is known
Musk complains
To fund the Twitter purchase, Musk heavily borrowed the company, whose financial health is already fragile after posting significant losses in the first two quarters of the year.
Musk, a 51-year-old South African engineer with US and Canadian citizenship and also head of Tesla and SpaceX, has taken out loans worth $ 13 billion, which will have to be repaid by Twitter and not by him.
It also sold about $ 15.5 billion of its Tesla stock twice, in April and August, and backed $ 12.5 billion in loans with its shares in the automaker.
On Friday 4, Musk blamed Twitter’s decline in revenue “a group of activists who put pressure on advertisers even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we have done everything possible to placate activists.”
“This is really nonsense! They are trying to destroy free speech in the United States, “she added.
Advertising is Twitter’s main source of income, and Musk has been trying to calm things down by making sure the platform doesn’t become “hell for everyone”.
But big companies like General Motors and Volkswagen stopped advertising on Twitter after the acquisition.
Civil rights groups have expressed concern that Musk allows uncontrolled disinformation and hate speech on social networks and restores blocked accounts, including that of former US President Donald Trump, who was expelled shortly after the its supporters stormed Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.
Musk has announced that he will form a committee to evaluate the social network’s future policy on posts and reset blocked accounts.
One of the main ideas raised by Musk after its acquisition is the establishment of a subscription of 8 US dollars per month that allows users to certify their account and be less exposed to advertising.
But this project has raised a lot of criticism and reluctance, especially among users who already have an authenticated account.
