Elon Musk is beginning the process of ordering mass layoffs at Twitter. Musk told investors in May that he intends to shrink the company’s workforce as he turns it into a private company. The layoffs will impact roughly half of the company’s 7,500 employees. Those affected are expected to work in sales, engineering, and marketing. Twitter is also expected to cut its legal department and staff. The layoffs are expected to begin Friday.
Twitter employees noticed that the company has changed its employee directory. Earlier, employees were able to take “Days of Rest,” or monthly vacations, to recharge their batteries. The company has been mimicking the actions of other Silicon Valley tech moguls, including Mark Zuckerberg, who leads Facebook (Meta), Instagram, and WhatsApp. While these companies were once unattainable to most people, they now employ a lot of people.
Twitter employees posted messages of support to each other on Thursday, with many using the hashtag #OneTeam. The recent saga between Musk and his company has hurt the company’s workplace morale. As a result, employees have been quitting in droves. Regardless of the reason behind the layoffs, many Twitter employees are expressing support for each other.
As Twitter continues to suffer from its recent struggles, Musk has said that it is time to lay off some of its employees. The CEO also said that he will be introducing changes to Twitter’s verification service and may reverse the lifetime ban policy.