The majority of Twitter’s staff will be let go by Elon Musk if and when he acquires the social media business, the Washington Post reported on Thursday (local time).
According to the story, Musk has informed potential investors in his purchase of Twitter that he intends to lay off approximately 75% of the company’s 7500 employees, leaving it with a skeleton staff. Documents and unidentified persons familiar with the discussions were mentioned by the newspaper.
based in San Francisco Requests for comment from Twitter and Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, were not immediately answered.
Even while job cutbacks were anticipated regardless of the sale, Musk’s proposed ones will be much more severe than anything Twitter had in mind. Musk has previously hinted at the necessity to reduce the company’s workforce, but he hasn’t specified a number, at least not in public.
According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a 75% personnel reduction would suggest, at least initially, higher free cash flow and profitability, which would be appealing to investors eager to get in on the sale. That stated, progress cannot be achieved by cutting corners.
Ives added that such a drastic reduction in Twitter’s workforce would likely set the company back years.
Experts, charities, and even Twitter’s own employees had previously issued warnings that cutting back on efforts in data security and content moderation might harm Twitter and its users. The platform might swiftly be inundated with hazardous content and spam with such a severe reduction as Musk may be planning; Musk himself has stated he’ll address the latter if and when he becomes the company’s owner.
Musk withdrew his offer to purchase Twitter after making an initial US$44 billion (NZ$77 billion) offer in April, claiming Twitter had exaggerated the number of phoney “spam bot” accounts it had on its network. A Delaware judge has given the parties until October 28 to resolve their differences after Twitter filed a lawsuit. If not, a trial will be held in November.
Report: Musk intends to reduce Twitter’s headcount by 75%
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