- Twitter continues to make layoffs despite Elon Musk’s claim that he is done laying people off.
- Dozens of employees are expected to be laid off in the coming weeks.
- Musk says Twitter is in dire financial straits. The announcements show a more secure foothold in front of his property.
Quittings are rising again on Twitter about six weeks after Elon Musk told his new hires that he was done with such actions. By the end of these cuts, the company could see its lowest number of employees in more than a decade.
Another 50 workers in Twitter’s manufacturing organization will be laid off in the coming weeks, two people familiar with the company said. Dozens of workers in Twitter’s advertising, trust and security, and monetization divisions were laid off two weeks ago, and the Singapore and Australian offices saw layoffs last week, Insider reported.
Employees expect plans to close many international offices and several smaller U.S. offices to lead to even more layoffs. If that happens, Twitter could soon be under 2,000 people. That would make it a far smaller company than it has been in more than a decade. Twitter went public in 2013 and announced that it had 2,700 employees.
Dropping below 2,000 employees would also mean Musk would cut Twitter’s headcount by more than 75% — far more than expected when he took over the company in late October. His initial round of layoffs cut roughly half of Twitter’s staff, and several hundred more employees quit after Musk told them in an email to either buy into his “hardline” vision for the business or leave. Employees continue to receive unexpected terminations, with little or no explanation as to why, several affected employees said.
A Twitter representative did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Musk said in November that no further rounds of layoffs were “planned,” though Twitter employees accepted that much of what Musk says can’t be taken for granted.
“He just says things that ring true at the time,” said another person familiar with the company.
Billionaire Tesla has repeatedly complained about the state of Twitter’s business, comparing it in December to a plane falling towards the ground. At the same time, he accused the former leadership and spending practices.
Still, under his nearly three-month leadership, hundreds of advertisers have left the platform due to the many changes Musk has introduced, from cutting employees tasked with monitoring and removing hate speech to bringing back accounts banned for inciting violence. Musk also made several politically charged and misguided comments.
Twitter’s business relies on advertising revenue. Musk said in November that the company was “losing $4 million a day.” Yet in the second quarter of last year, the last time Twitter released its financials as a public company, it was losing roughly $3 million a day. During the first quarter of last year, Twitter made a profit of 513 million dollars.
Musk has taken other steps to cut costs. He gutted the site’s features and reduced or eliminated a number of employee benefits and perks, such as fertility health care and freshly prepared food. Some office spaces in San Francisco and New York have been converted into bedrooms and showers to save on hotel costs, even as cuts to janitors and staff have left offices unsanitary and full of bugs. And his decision on Christmas Eve disconnect a large data center in Sacramento, California, was also cost-driven. The operation of such centers can cost several million dollars per month.
Are you a Twitter employee or someone else with an insight to share? Contact Kali Hays at [email protected], in the secure messaging app Signal at 949-280-0267 or via Twitter DM at @hayskala. Contact using a non-working device.