Two reports claim that billionaire Elon Musk plans massive layoffs when he takes ownership of the company. They say that the planned cuts to Twitter jobs amount to 75% of the workforce …
The story so far
Musk started quietly buying up Twitter shares, was offered and accepted a seat on the company’s board, changed his mind a day later, offered to buy the company, Twitter resisted, then accepted before Musk tried to back out, Twitter sued, now it’s all going ahead again, leaving Musk’s bankers sweating, amid claims that Twitter ordered evidence to be burned, and each side claiming that the other is under federal investigation. You know, just standard M&A stuff.
Twitter jobs to be slashed
The news was first reported by The Washington Post – which said that massive cuts would occur even if the acquisition didn’t complete.
Twitter’s workforce is likely to be hit with massive cuts in the coming months, no matter who owns the company, interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Post show, a change likely to have major impact on its ability to control harmful content and prevent data security crises.
Elon Musk told prospective investors in his deal to buy the company that he planned to get rid of nearly 75 percent of Twitter’s 7,500 workers, whittling the company down to a skeleton staff of just over 2,000.
Bloomberg corroborated the former claim.
Bloomberg News confirmed that potential investors were told of the plan for cuts, along with an effort to double revenue within three years.
Twitter hasn’t commented publicly, but a memo to staff neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
In a memo seen by Bloomberg News, Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett warned workers to expect “tons of public rumors and speculation” as the closing of the deal nears. “We do not have any confirmation of the buyer’s plans following close and recommend not following rumors or leaked documents but rather wait for facts from us and the buyer directly,” he said […]
In his memo, Edgett said discussions about cost savings and planning occurred earlier in the year. “Those discussions stopped once the merger agreement was signed,” he said. “Since the merger agreement has been in place, there have been no plans for any companywide layoffs.”
The report has strengthened concerns that Musk’s unrestrained free speech plans could see moderators and fact-checkers almost eliminated, leaving hate speech and disinformation to propagate unchecked on the social network.
Musk’s acquisition of the company is scheduled to complete on October 28, though given the tumultuous history of the planned takeover, most will believe it if and when it finally happens.
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