Elon Musk to lay off half of Twitter's workforce, plans to revoke work-from-anywhere policy: Report

Elon Musk plans to cut about 3,7000 jobs at Twitter Inc., or half of the social media company's workforce, to cut costs following his $44 billion acquisition, as per people familiar with the matter. 

Twitter's new owner plans to notify affected employees on Friday, according to people who asked for anonymity as they were discussing non-public plans. Also, Musk aims to reverse the company's current work-from-anywhere policy, which means the employees must report to offices, though some exceptions may be made, as per sources. 

Musk and his team of advisers have been weighing various scenarios for job cuts and other policy changes at San Francisco-based Twitter, adding that the terms of the headcount reduction could still change. Two people said that in one scenario being considered, laid-off workers would be offered 60 days of severance pay.

Sources added after the layoffs were completed, Twitter Chief Accounting Officer Robert Kaiden left the company, becoming one of the last pre-Musk C-suite executives to leave. Requests for a response from a Twitter official were delayed.

Musk is under pressure to find ways to cut costs in a business he claims he overpaid. In April, the billionaire agreed to pay $54.20 per share just as markets collapsed. He then attempted to back out of the transaction for months, claiming that the company misled him about the prevalence of fake accounts. Twitter filed a lawsuit to compel Musk to honour his agreement, and in recent weeks, Musk caved, agreeing to close the deal on the agreed-upon terms. The take-private transaction was completed on Thursday. 

Since Musk took over and immediately fired much of the top executive team, including Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, finance chief Ned Segal, and senior legal staffers Vijaya Gadde and Sean Edgett, Twitter employees have been bracing for layoffs. Other departures in the following days included Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland, Chief Customer Officer Sarah Personette, and Jean-Philippe Maheu, vice president of global client solutions.

Musk called himself 'Chief Twit' in his social media bio. Bloomberg previously reported that he would serve as interim CEO himself. He also dissolved the company's board of directors and became sole director, later claiming it was 'only temporary.'

According to people familiar with the situation, a few director and vice president employees were let go over the weekend. According to the sources, other leaders were asked to create lists of employees on their teams who could be let go.

A person familiar with the situation said this week that senior personnel on the product teams were asked to aim for a 50 per cent reduction in headcount. The lists were reviewed by engineers and director-level staff from Tesla Inc., which Musk also runs. According to the sources, layoff lists were created and ranked based on individuals' contributions to Twitter's code during their time at the company. Tesla employees and Twitter executives both made assessments.

Concerns about steep workforce cuts arose in the run-up to Musk's buyout when potential investors were told that he planned to cut 75 per cent of the workforce, which stood at around 7,500 at the end of 2021. Musk later denied that the layoffs would be so severe. 

Musk has been hinting at his staffing priorities recently, saying he wants to focus on the core product. In early October, he tweeted, "Software engineering, server operations, and design will rule the roost." Musk is also attempting to increase revenue. The company will begin charging for verification soon.

According to people familiar with the plans, the badges will be part of an $8-per-month subscription that could go live as soon as Monday. Users who already have a blue verification badge will have a multi-month grace period before they must either pay for it or lose it, according to one of the people who requested anonymity to discuss unreleased plans.

Also read: No plans for layoffs: Twitter to employees after Elon Musk's job cut remarks

Also read: Billionaire Elon Musk says Twitter will form 'content moderation council'; check details

Also read: On his first day as Twitter's new boss, here's what Elon Musk said

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• Elon Musk
• Twitter