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In a bid to drive down costs, Elon Musk plans to eliminate 50% of Twitter (TWTR) workforce today, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Twitter’s new owner along with the team of advisers has been weighing a range of scenarios for job cuts and other policy changes, adding that the terms of the headcount reduction could still change and asking employees to report to offices instead of work-from-anywhere policy, even though some exceptions could be made. In one scenario being considered, laid-off workers will be offered 60 days’ worth of severance pay, two of the people said.
A series of layoffs started as soon as Musk took over the social media company including Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, finance chief Ned Segal and senior legal staffers Vijaya Gadde and Sean Edgett. In the days that followed, other departures have included Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland, Chief Customer Officer Sarah Personette, and Jean-Philippe Maheu, vice president of global client solutions. After the layoffs were sorted, Twitter Chief Accounting Officer Robert Kaiden left the company, becoming one of the last pre-Musk C-suite executives to depart, according to people familiar with the matter.
Senior personnel on the product teams were asked to target a 50% reduction in headcount, a person familiar with the matter said this week. The assessment are being made by both Tesla personnel and Twitter managers.
Concerns over steep personnel cuts started to swirl in the run-up to Musk’s buyout, when potential investors were told that he’d eliminate 75% of the workforce, which stood at about 7,500 at the end of 2021. Musk later denied that the cuts would be that deep.
In recent weeks, Musk started hinting at his staffing priorities, saying he wants to focus on the core product. “Software engineering, server operations & design will rule the roost,” he tweeted in early October.
On the product side, The company will soon start charging $8-a-month for verification, which includes badges, according to people familiar with the plans.
Musk appointed himself “Chief Twit” in his bio on the social network. Bloomberg reported earlier that he would take on the role of interim CEO himself.
He also dissolved the company’s board and became sole director, saying later that it’s “just temporary.”
Musk believes he overpaid for Twitter by agreeing to pay $54.20, valuing the company at $44B. He then tried to move out claiming Twitter had not been forthcoming about spam and bots on its platform, which he claimed would amount to a material adverse effect. Eventually, Musk closed the deal taking Twitter private on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In October, Meta Platforms (META) announced that it is eliminating 15% of its workforce or approx.12,000 employees at Facebook to slash its headcount as global headwinds and falling ad spends pose serious problems.
In August, Snap (SNAP), the maker of the ephemeral messaging app Snapchat, laid off 20 percent of its employees.
