Here’s What Elon Musk Sent Fired Twitter Employees

Elon Musk has now purged roughly half of Twitter’s 7,500 employee base to reign in the company’s costs.

MASSIVE Twitter Layoffs Begin Today!

Twitter temporarily shut down all of its offices and disabled badge access to all physical locations to prevent sabotage.

Employees were sent a memo on Thursday informing them to go home and not return to the office.

Roughly 3,700 Twitter employees were let go in a mass email dismissal.

It appeared that Twitter Asia was hit the hardest.

90% OF TWITTER ASIA IS FIRED: SOURCE

85% INDIA TWITTER IS FIRED: SOURCE

Is it a competition who can fire more?

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 4, 2022

The Daily Mail obtained a copy of the email that was sent to all staff, including those who will be laid off and those who will not.

Musk defended his decision to fire half the staff, insisting he had 'no choice' because the company was losing $4 million a day.

He said all fired workers were 'offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.'

Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.

Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022

Daily Mail reported:

Musk has a battle on his hands to make back his money, but on Friday said he was adamant it could become one of the world's most valuable companies.

He insisted that hate speech on the platform had declined since he took over.

'Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter's strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged,' he said.

'In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press.'

Musk has evidently been irritated by the number of people complaining that hate speech has increased, and the advertisers fleeing in response.

On Friday morning, he tweeted angrily: 'Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.

'Extremely messed up! They're trying to destroy free speech in America.'

Malaysian gamer and journalist Ian Miles Cheong replied: 'It's time to stop appeasing the activists because they will stop at nothing to hurt Twitter regardless of what you do.'

Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged.

In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022

Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.

Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022

Here are the emails sent out to Twitter employees.

For Fired Employees:

Hello,

As shared earlier today, Twitter is conducting a workforce reduction to help improve the health of the company.

These decisions are never easy and it is with regret that we write to inform you that your role at Twitter has been impacted.

Today is your last working day at the company, however, you will remain employed by Twitter and will receive compensation and benefits through your separation date of February 2, 2023.

During this time, you will be on a Non-Working Notice period and your access to Twitter systems will be deactivated.

While you are not expected to work during the Non-Working Notice period, you are still required to comply with all company policies, including the Employee Playbook and Code of Conduct.

Within a week, you will receive details of your severance offer, financial resources extending beyond your Non-Working Notice period.

At that time you will also receive a Separation Agreement and Release of Claims and other offboarding...

For Retained Employees:

Hello,

Thank you for your patience through this transition and for your commitment to the important work you do a Twitter. We are sending this email to confirm that your employment is not impacted by today's workforce reduction.

Throughout the last week, Elon has spent time with a number of employees, customers, partners, policymakers and Twitter users. He is looking forward to communicating with everyone about his vision for the company soon. We know you likely have a number of questions, and we will have more information to share next week.

In the meantime, please note that until Monday, Birdhouse is temporarily offline, our office buildings are temporarily closed, and all badge access is temporarily suspended. Offices will reopen on Monday, Nov. 7th.

Thank you for continuing to demonstrate respect for impacted colleagues as we navigate these changes. As a reminder, we expect you to continue to comply with company police by refraining from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere.

We look forward to working with you on Twitter's exciting future.

- Twitter

Many former Twitter employees have taken to social media to break the news that they have been laid off.

wont get to Tweet it, but here it is - the last @Twitter Tweet from my team and I

Love y’all and thank you for the honor of a lifetime #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/v6BWkeSVXr

— Phonz is Spilling (@Phonz) November 4, 2022

Thank you to all the wonderful people I had the chance to work with that helped me learn and grow tremendously throughout the past two years. I don’t regret a moment.

— Catharine Broadnax (@CatharineBroad3) November 4, 2022

Woke up to the sad news that I’m no longer a Tweep.

I loved every single moment working on the global @TwitterComms team, collaborating with and learning from an outstanding group of talented people.

Thank you to everyone who made it so special. #OneTeam #LoveWhereYouWorked

— Gareth Field (@GField17) November 4, 2022

After 3 years, my time at Twitter ended. I wanted to thank every Tweeps for making this experience amazing and memorable. Twitter still has a lot of unlocked potential but I'm proud of what we accomplished. Please DM me if I can be of any assistance. #LoveWhereYouWorked

— Arnaud Weber (@rnoweber) November 4, 2022

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

The Verge added:

According to Musk’s merger agreement with Twitter and an internal employee FAQ from October seen by The Verge, he agreed to pay terminated employees with severance that would at least match what Twitter offered prior to the deal closing. The FAQ says that Twitter’s severance package before Musk’s acquisition was two months of base salary, or “on target earnings” for sales employees on incentive plans, along with an employee’s performance bonus paid “at target,” a cash contribution for healthcare, and the cash value of equity that “would have vested within three months from the separation date.”

Some Twitter employees have already filed a lawsuit against the company claiming that the company violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) and California’s WARN Act, which requires that companies give at least 60 days of notice before a mass firing. Others told The Verge they are consulting their lawyers about the discrepancy between Musk’s one-month of severance and what he agreed to pay before the merger.