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Musk is reportedly planning to cut half of Twitter’s global workforce in a bid to reduce costs within the company.
Elon Musk is planning to cut 3,700 jobs at Twitter worldwide, according to Bloomberg. This represents about half of the social media company’s workforce and raises concerns for the future of the 500 staff employed at its Dublin office.
Sources told Bloomberg that Musk plans to inform those affected by the job cuts on Friday. These sources said Musk has been weighing up options with advisers and that the number of job losses could still change.
Alex Heath of The Verge also reported seeing a calendar invite for a call to review Twitter’s “RIF”, or reduction in force. Musk was an attendee on this calendar invite, according to Heath. Twitter staff also reportedly saw details of the job cuts in a Slack discussion.
Among Musk’s inner circle discussing the job cuts are David Sacks of Craft Ventures, The Boring Company president Steve Davis, Sam Teller and Antonio Gracias from Valor Equity Partners, according to internal communications seen by CNBC.
The list of staff being selected for layoffs was being finalised yesterday (2 November) with 3,700 jobs set to be cut, according to two sources and an internal message seen by Insider.
The job cuts are designed to push down costs following Musk’s $44bn takeover of Twitter, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. When Musk spoke to the company’s staff on a video call in June, he hinted at layoffs, saying the company “does need to get healthy”.
Musk also spoke out against full remote working policies on the June call. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Twitter was one of the first big tech businesses to embrace long-term remote working.
Bloomberg is now reporting that Musk is expected to require employees who were once authorised to work remotely to go back to Twitter offices.
Meanwhile, staff are reportedly working “24/7” on the newly minted CEO’s plans to change Twitter’s blue tick system.
Musk has proposed charging users $8 a month to retain their verified status. The blue tick mark next to a username is currently free, but is typically reserved for high-profile figures and users who have been verified as trustworthy sources.
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