According to a media report, the US short message service Twitter is threatened with massive job cuts in the coming months after the takeover by Tesla boss Elon Musk. the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing documents and interviews, that Musk wants to get rid of almost 75 percent of the approximately 7,500 Twitter employees. This saved just over 2000 jobs. The billionaire said this to future investors.
Elon Musk is currently in the process of taking over Twitter for $44 billion. However, there were numerous disputes about his purchase offer, which eventually ended up in court.
Musk is the boss of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the value of his shares in the company currently makes him the richest person in the world. Since Tesla has a large plant in Shanghai, which is very important for the company, there have been public concerns that Musk could, for example, restrict freedom of expression around China on Twitter in order to get on well with the leadership in Beijing .
However, Twitter denies that there are any plans to cut jobs. In a memo to the news agency Bloomberg the company has informed its employees that since the acquisition deal was signed with the billionaire, there have been no plans for any company-wide layoffs. Sean Edgett, Twitter’s General Counsel, said employees should brace themselves for “a lot of public rumor and speculation” as the deal nears completion. “We have no confirmation of the buyer’s plans after closing and recommend not pursuing any rumors or leaked documents, but instead awaiting facts from us and the buyer directly,” he said.
Bloomberg News in turn confirms that potential investors have been briefed on the cuts plan, along with a bid to double sales within three years. In his memo, Edgett explained that cost-cutting and planning discussions took place earlier in the year. “Those discussions stopped when the merger agreement was signed,” he said. “Since the merger agreement went into effect, there are no plans for company-wide layoffs.”
However, it is expected that any job cuts will not only have an impact on the company, but also on the user experience. Data scientist Edwin Chen believes that Twitter is currently overstaffed. However, Musk’s proposed deletions are “unimaginable”.