How many employees does Twitter have & how many will Elon Musk layoff?
The tech industry is opting to cut costs through mass layoffs and implementing hiring freezes. Twitter, now owned by Elon Musk, could shed fifty percent.
Advertisers are pulling out of Twitter, and since the company’s own reports show ninety percent of their revanue comes from ads, the pressure is on for Elon Musk to please those who keep the platform online.
Until now, Twitter’s model has been more users + more time by users = more ads = more money.
Unfortunately, that model wasn’t working, with the company in the red $5.5 billion before Musk’s acquisition and his takeover tacking on an additional $13 billion. Twitter’s new owner is desperate to move the company into the green, and he has some ideas on how to do it.
First, charging users $8 to become “verified,” meaning they would have a blue checkmark next to their names, like celebrities, journalists, other public figures, and brands. Many experts who study the spread of misinformation worry that allowing any account to become verified could add credibility to users that spread fake news. Additionally, this more lax verification could lead to accounts impersonating politicians, law enforcement agencies, and even normal people like me and you.
Layoffs will rock Twitter’s global network
Musk’s second big idea to grow revanue is by following others in the tech sector and laying off workers. Currently, Twitter employs around 7,500 people.
Various reports are putting the percentage of employees fired at fifty, meaning that around 3,700 people could lose their jobs. The official announcement is expected to come from Musk on Friday, 5 November.
The notice from top executives admitted that they understood the choice would “impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter,” showed letters obtained by the New York Times. The decision was then justified as “necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.”
Employees have been told not to come to the office on Friday and that they will receive a notice of their employment status. The company said it would be closing down offices “to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data.”
What sort of jobs will be lost?
Employees were told they would receive via email notfication of whether they were still gainfully employed at Twitter or that they had been laid off and would be given instructions on the next steps. The notices were supposed to go out at 9 am Pacific Time ( 12 pm ET). Reports of where the expected cuts were made have been coming in on Friday across Twitter in posts from fired employees and people with inside knowledge. Musk is swinging the axe far, wide and deep and in some departments.
The exact number of people sacked isn’t known yet, but layoffs have occurred in departments across the company. Marketing and communication, public policy, search and wellness report firings. As well ethical AI, which determines the legitimate and illegitimate use of AI, curation, the department that helps elevate reliable information on the platform and the human rights team. Activist Rashad Robinson posted that Musk has “fired the entire team that identified that the Twitter algorithm amplifies right-wing voices over others.”
A class action lawsuit was filed on Thursday in California by attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan stating that Musk hd violated the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act which requires an employer with more than 100 employees give 60 days’ advanced written notice prior to a mass layoff that affects more than 50 employees at a single location. One could come in New York as well where the employer must give 90 days’ advance notice.