Elon Musk is looking to reduce approximately half of the company’s personnel, in a bid to save costs at the social networking platform he just bought.
He also wants to take away employees’ freedom to work remotely and require them to spend all of their time in the office, according to Bloomberg, Axios, and FT, which cited people familiar with the issue.
The people who might be impacted by the cuts might be informed on Friday, according to the reports.
After removing Twitter’s senior executives, the multibillionaire businessman named himself CEO, said that users would have to pay for the coveted blue tick, and suggested bringing back the long-gone video-sharing service Vine.
Twitter employees have been bracing for likely mass layoffs over the past two weeks after the Washington Post published a shocking report that Musk planned to lay off more than 75% of the company’s 7,500 employees.
Musk denied claims made by The New York Times last week that he was preparing to lay off Twitter employees before Nov. 1 to avoid giving stock grants that were due that day.
No more remote work
Twitter was among the first companies to allow its employees to work remotely on a full-time basis when the COVID -19 pandemic broke out.
But under Musk, the company apparently wants to mandate that its remaining employees work full-time in real offices.
According to Axios, those who have to relocate to be near a Twitter office have only 60 days to do so. According to a source familiar with the situation, many employees are unable or unwilling to relocate, which would result in the loss of even more jobs.
However, all sources indicate that the platform’s current goals are constantly shifting, and several staff meetings have recently been abruptly canceled.
At one of his other companies, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Musk introduced a similar return-to-office rule earlier this year. He claimed that he required Tesla employees to work at least 40 hours a week in the office or “pretend to work” somewhere else.
Bottom line
With no senior board, with half the staff gone, and with potentially disgruntled employees, the company faces unpleasant times ahead.
Several notable figures, including horror author Stephen King and NBA legend LeBron James, have already indicated their intention to leave the site. Others, such as screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, have already left.