Twitter has reportedly laid off at least 200 additional employees, or 10% of its already drastically reduced workforce, as owner and CEO Elon Musk continues to cut costs to make its $44 billion acquisition profitable, according to press reports.
Last year’s purchase of Twitter remains one of the strangest business stories in recent memory, as does the fallout. He suddenly made a high offer, but was surprised. He also reneged on the deal almost immediately and was charged. He capitulated when his chances of winning the court seemed slim. Since then, he has alienated and tried to win back concerned advertisers; try several launches of Twitter Blue in the hope of generating additional income; and laid off thousands of employees from a workforce that stood at 7,500 before the purchase. Musk threatened to cut two-thirds of all Twitter posts, now he’s going even further.
The cuts will affect advertising, app support, product managers, data scientists and engineers who work on the site’s operations and reliability.
Product manager Esther Crawford, a Musk loyalist and leader of the controversial Twitter Blue verification opt-in project, is said to be among the layoffs. A photo of her sleeping on the floor of Twitter offices in November embodied the new regime.
According to reports, many employees learned of their status when they were unable to log into their company accounts.
In November, after laying off nearly two-thirds of the workforce to about 2,700, he told a meeting with employees that the layoffs had ended and that the company would begin actively hiring in certain departments. About 1,000 people are said to have resigned after he completed the takeovers and delisted the company last October.
In December, he conducted an online poll asking if he should resign as chief executive, and when the answer was a resounding yes, he promised he would. He gave no indication of when exactly that would happen or if he was looking at candidates.
He told a conference in Dubai that he believed Twitter “should be in a stable position by the end of this year.” He then tweeted a photo of his dog Floki sitting at a desk: “Twitter’s new CEO is awesome.”
He said in Dubai: “I need to stabilize the organization and make sure it is financially sound so that the product roadmap is clearly set out.”
On Sunday, the billionaire who founded Tesla tweeted:
Musk also addressed the controversy surrounding Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams, whose cartoon was recently taken down by multiple publishers after racist comments. Adams said to his Coffee with Scott Adams Online video program in which whites “get away from blacks” and call blacks a “hate group”.
Source: Deadline
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
