Twitter will reportedly begin firing employees on Friday, according to a memo sent to staff, prompting several workers to file a lawsuit against Elon Musk.
The employees allege that the move violates US labor law.
Here's the first official communication from Twitter's new leadership to its staff, a week after Musk took over: a fun game where you get to find out if you're laid off or not based by 9am tomorrow, based on whether the email pops up in your Twitter account or personal account. pic.twitter.com/tpJsAkiaHp
— Will Oremus (@WillOremus) November 4, 2022
Tomorrow’s 9am TWTR email will separate who’s leaving from who’s staying. All offices now closed. https://t.co/cnY0tfSFml
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) November 4, 2022
Twitter layoffs will start today, the company told staff in an email. The memo didn’t mention the extent of the staff cuts, but claimed reducing its 7,500 global headcount would 'place Twitter on a healthy path' https://t.co/ssYO1NeaL0 pic.twitter.com/oS6z4fNOGb
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 4, 2022
Insider Paper reported:
A company-wide email seen by AFP says Twitter employees will receive word via email at the start of business Friday, California time, as to what their fate is.
It does not give a number but the Washington Post and New York Times reported that about half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees will be let go.
“In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global work force,” the email said.
Twitter employees have been bracing for this kind of bad news since Musk completed his mammoth $44 billion acquisition late last week and quickly set about dissolving its board and firing its chief executive and top managers.
Late on Thursday, a group of five Twitter employees who had already been fired filed a class action complaint against the company on the grounds that they had not been given the required 60-day notice period as required under US federal and California state law, according to the text of the complaint.
The lawsuit references the US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which provides workers a right to advance notice in cases of mass layoffs or plant closings.
The lawsuit also asks the court to restrict Twitter from asking employees to sign documents that would waive their rights under the WARN Act.
Further details from The Verge:
The layoffs are part of Musk’s push to reign in Twitter’s costs. Back in June, before he initially tried to get out of his deal to buy Twitter, he told employees: “Right now, the costs exceed the revenue. So that’s not a great situation to be in. And so there would have to be some rationalization of headcount and expenses to have revenue be greater than cost. Otherwise, Twitter is simply not viable or can’t grow.”
After employees received the memo confirming layoffs would begin, many began quickly trying to unlink their Twitter accounts from their work email addresses — a company-mandated policy that also requires physical keys for two-factor authentication.
In Twitter’s Slack and group chats, other employees complained about the lack of internal communication from Musk and Twitter’s other leaders over the past week. “I truly wish you all well – for your sake, for the sake of your teams, and for the sake of the many people and communities this product serves,” one data scientist wrote in a Slack message addressed to leadership that was seen by The Verge. “But I also hope [the] failure of this past week hangs heavy on you to remind you to do better.”
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