Twitter lays off “about 50%” of its employees after its takeover by Elon Musk
People walk in front of Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco on November 4, 2022. AP - Jeff Chiu
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
A week after being bought by Elon Musk, Twitter has undertaken to lay off half of its workforce, while launching major projects and battling against users, advertisers and associations worried about the transformation of the influential social network.
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“
About 50% of the staff will be affected
” by the layoffs underway within Twitter, according to a document sent to employees of the social network who were thanked on Friday and consulted by AFP.
The Californian company, which had nearly 7,500 employees at the end of October, notified thousands of people by email and announced the temporary closure of its offices.
“
As announced earlier today,
Twitter is reducing its workforce to help improve the health of the business
.
These decisions are never easy and it is with regret that we write to let you know that your Twitter post is affected.
Today is your last day of work
(...)”, indicates one of these emails, consulted by AFP.
On Thursday evening, Twitter wrote to all its employees to warn them of the upcoming layoffs, telling them that the offices would be "
temporarily closed
" and badge access "
suspended
", in order "
to ensure the safety of each employee as well as that of Twitter's systems and data
.
Class action
By Thursday,
after taking control of the company
, Elon Musk had dissolved the board of directors, fired the executives, assumed the position of general manager and took the company off the stock exchange.
Shortly after the layoffs were announced, Twitter employees took to the social network to announce their job cuts, sometimes using the hashtags #LoveWhereYouWork and #OneTeam. ).
Woke up to the news that my time working at Twitter has come to an end.
💙
I am heartbroken.
I am in denial.
It's been the best, craziest, most rewarding ride of my career.
I have loved every single minute of it.
A short thread, if you will indulge me:#LoveWhereYouWork
— Michele Austin (@_MicheleAustin) November 4, 2022
“
I woke up this morning to find that my time at Twitter was coming to an end.
I am heartbroken, I am in denial
”, for example, tweeted an employee of the group, Michele Austin.
Best job I ever had.
Amazingpeople.
Beautiful culture.
Goodbye, bird nest.
Love you all 💙#LoveWhereYouWork #lovewhereyouworked pic.twitter.com/SXdX8zZ6f4
— Alexis Lee / Fushigi (@helloLeitmotif) November 4, 2022
“
The best job I've ever had.
Incredible people.
A very good corporate culture.
Goodbye nest.
I love you all
, ”tweeted Alexis Lee, also dismissed today.
“
All my thoughts, my respect, my energy and my love to the tweeps
[surnom des employees de Twitter, NDLR]
around the world today.
Together we have built the most incredible application on the planet
,” said Damien Viel, CEO of Twitter France.
Overnight Thursday, five recently fired Twitter employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company for not receiving the 60-day notice period required by US law for layoffs. massive (Warn Act), according to the text of the complaint consulted by AFP.
Managers and marketing and design departments seem particularly affected, according to an employee who wished to remain anonymous.
(
With
AFP)
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