Elon Musk sacks 80% of Twitter staff as company descends into chaos
13 November 2022, 21:25
Musk has sacked more than three-quarters of Twitter's content moderators and developers in a desperate attempt to cut losses.
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Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk has fired more than three-quarters of the company's workers in an attempt to stem spiralling losses.
Content moderators and developer teams were among the 4,400 of Twitter's 5,500 to have lost their jobs up to yesterday, according to Platformer.
The firebrand Tesla boss has said that "bankruptcy isn't out of the question" and that the company sheds around $4 million every single day.
Update: company sources tell me that yesterday Twitter eliminated ~4,400 of its ~5,500 contract employees, with cuts expected to have significant impact to content moderation and the core infrastructure services that keep the site up and running.
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 13, 2022
People inside are stunned.
He also told a staff meeting yesterday: "We just definitely need to bring in more cash than we spend.
"If we don’t do that and there’s a massive negative cash flow, then bankruptcy is not out of the question."
Read more Elon Musk warns Twitter employees that 'bankruptcy isn’t out of the question'
Musk completed his purchase of the social media platform for the equivalent of £38.7bn in late October - but only after trying to pull out of the deal.
When Twitter bosses tried to take Musk to court, he reversed his exit from the deal and allowed it to go ahead.
Workers at the company's London office reported being unable to access their email - or the building.
Many of the UK workers fired have since hired law firm Winckworth Sherwood LLP as they weigh wrongful dismissal lawsuits, Bloomberg reported.
