PM Jacinda Ardern acknowledged that social media platforms can do ‘a huge amount of harm’ if misused and said she hoped that new owner Elon Musk would stick to his ‘principal of transparency'. Video / NZ Herald
A savage, company-wide email has informed Twitter staffers that their jobs are on the line, just days after controversial billionaire Elon Musk took over the platform.
The email revealed that mass layoffs were on the cards, with some expecting the 7500-strong workforce to potentially shrink by 50 per cent under Musk’s leadership.
“Team, in an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” the email stated, according to the Washington Post.
“We recognise that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.”
Staff were told to go home and not return to the office on Friday as the cuts got underway.
The team now faces an anxious wait, with employees set to receive a second email with the brutal subject line: “Your Role at Twitter” which will inform them of their future within the company.
“We acknowledge this is an incredibly challenging experience to go through, whether or not you are impacted,” the email continued.
“We are grateful for your contributions to Twitter and for your patience as we move through this process.”
The email was the first from Musk to all staffers since he took over last week, after buying the site for a staggering US$44 billion ($75b)
It is understood that few areas of the business will be safe from the cull, with the Post reporting that positions within the “sales, trust and safety, marketing, product, engineering and legal teams” are all on the chopping block.
It comes after Musk immediately fired Twitter’s chief executive Parag Agrawal and chief financial officer Ned Segal, as well as head of legal policy, trust and safety Vijaya Gadde, who was the person behind the decision to permanently ban former US President Donald Trump from the platform after the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
Since then, a slew of other senior managers have also been stood down or resigned, with the New York Times reporting that managers were ordered to prepare lists of high and low-performing team members.
Elon Musk enters the Twitter HQ. Photo / AP
Advertisers jump ship
Meanwhile, Musk’s Twitter takeover is already facing a major hurdle as major advertisers turn their backs on the company.
So far, heavyweights including General Mills and Volkswagen have suspended their advertising on Twitter amid increasing pressure on the Tesla founder to turn his latest foray into a success.
“We have paused advertising on Twitter,” said Kelsey Roemhildt, a spokesperson for General Mills, whose brands include Cheerios and Häagen-Dazs.
“As always, we will continue to monitor this new direction and evaluate our marketing spend.”
It comes after the Wall Street Journal claimed Volkswagen, Pfizer and Mondelez International were also pausing their ads, following the footsteps of General Motors, which was the first big name to pull the pin.
The advertiser revolt comes amid fears Musk will allow the site to descend into hate speech and disinformation, given his previous advocacy of “free speech”, and will also allow controversial previous users such as Donald Trump back on the platform.
However, Musk has tried to reassure the public and advertisers that Twitter will not devolve into a “free-for-all hellscape” under his watch – before floating a plan to charge $8 a month to verify accounts, which has been widely panned.
