Key Points
- "Roughly 50 per cent" of employees were impacted and would be denied access to company computers and email immediately
- The move follows a week of chaos and uncertainty about the company's future under its new owner.
Twitter sacked half of its 7,500-strong staff on Friday as new owner Elon Musk launched his major overhaul of the troubled company just a week after his blockbuster takeover.
An internal document said "roughly 50 per cent" of employees were impacted and would be denied access to company computers and email immediately.
Workers around the world were shown the door and took to Twitter to vent their frustration or disbelief and say goodbye to one of Silicon Valley's most iconic companies.
"Woke up to the news that my time working at Twitter has come to an end. I am heartbroken. I am in denial," said Michele Austin, Twitter’s director of public policy for the US and Canada.
Ahead of the layoffs, Twitter closed access to its offices worldwide, asking employees to stay at home to await news of their fate at the company.
The move follows a week of chaos and uncertainty about the company's future under its new owner.
"In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday," said an email sent by the social media company on Thursday.
Why did Twitter do this?
Mr Musk, the world's richest person, reportedly cut around 3,700 Twitter staff, or about half the workforce, with staff who worked in engineering, communications, product and content curation among those impacted by the layoffs, according to tweets from Twitter employees.
The cull is part of Musk's push to find ways to pay for the mammoth US$44 billion ($68 billion) deal for which he took on billions of dollars in debt and sold $15.5 billion worth of Tesla shares, his electric car company.
Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief, has been scrambling to find new ways for Twitter to make money after his mammoth buyout, including an idea to charge users US$8 ($12) a month for verified accounts.
The moves would help overcome the potential loss of advertisers, Twitter’s main source of revenue, with many of the world’s top brands putting their ad buys on hold, spooked by Mr Musk’s well-known disdain for content controls.
Who has been impacted?
Twitter's "curation" team, which is responsible for "highlighting and contextualizing the best events and stories that unfold on Twitter", has been axed, employees said on the platform.
The company's communications team in India has also been laid off, according to a Twitter executive in Asia A team that focused on research into how Twitter employed algorithms, an issue that was a priority for Mr Musk, was also eliminated, according to a tweet from a former senior manager at Twitter.
A member of security staff at Twitter's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters in Dublin told reporters that nobody was coming into the office on Friday and employees had been told to stay home.
Senior executives, including vice president of engineering Arnaud Weber also said their goodbyes on Twitter on Friday: "Twitter still has a lot of unlocked potential but I'm proud of what we accomplished," he tweeted.
Employees of Twitter Blue, the premium subscription that Mr Musk is bolstering, were also let go.
An employee with the handle "SillyRobin" who had indicated they were laid off, quote-tweeted Mr Musk's previous tweet saying Twitter Blue would include "paywall bypass" for certain publishers. Just to be clear, he fired the team working on this," the employee said.
Some staff reported losing access to internal systems and being unable to message goodbyes to colleagues.
"Looks like I’m unemployed y’all. Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack," tweeted a user with the account @SBkcrn, whose profile is described as a former senior community manager at Twitter.
What has the reaction been?
Mr Musk has promised to restore free speech while preventing Twitter from descending into a "hellscape."
However, his reassurances have failed to prevent major advertisers from threatening to withdraw from the platform.
Volkswagen has recommended its brands pause paid advertising on Twitter until further notice in the wake of Mr Musk's takeover, it said on Friday.
Its comments echoed similar remarks from other firms, including General Motors and General Mills.
Musk blamed civil rights activists' pressure on advertisers for a "massive drop in revenue" in a tweet on Friday morning.
"Extremely messed up! They're (civil right groups) trying to destroy free speech in America."
Shock, shared hashtags and a lawsuit
Twitter hired consulting firm KPMG in some international markets, including in Asia, to assist with the layoffs, according to one person familiar with the manner.
Twitter employees vented their frustrations about the layoffs on the social network, using the hashtag #OneTeam.
User Rachel Bonn tweeted: "Last Thursday in the SF (San Francisco) office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old. Just got cut off from laptop access."
Responding to the #OneTeam thread, Twitter's Head of Safety & Integrity Yoel Roth, said: "Tweeps: My DMs (direct message routes) are always open to you. Tell me how I can help."
Mr Roth was the most senior executive to message publicly with a tweet of support for staff who are losing their jobs. He also appeared to still have his job.
Last week, Mr Musk endorsed Mr Roth, citing his "high integrity" after he was called out over tweets critical of former US President Donald Trump years earlier.
Mr Roth and Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
A class action lawsuit was filed on Thursday against Twitter by its employees, who argued the company was conducting mass layoffs without providing the required 60-day advance notice, in violation of federal and California law.
The lawsuit also asked the San Francisco federal court to issue an order to restrict Twitter from soliciting employees being laid off to sign documents without informing them of the pendency of the case.
