Thousands of Twitter employees sacked by email as Elon Musk begins cull of workforce

4 November 2022, 08:21 | Updated: 4 November 2022, 18:28

Elon Musk has begun culling Twitter staff
Elon Musk has begun culling Twitter staff. Picture: Getty/Alamy

By Asher McShane

Thousands of Twitter employees have been sacked by email as new owner Elon Musk begins his cull of the company's workforce.

Up to 3,700 people - around half the total number of staff members - could be made redundant.

Twitter employees in California have begun to receive one of two emails.

One informs the staff member that Friday November 4 is their "last working day at the company" but says they will continue to receive their salary and other benefits up until February.

An alternative email informs the staff member their role is "not impacted by today's workforce reduction" and promising to share more information next week.

Some staff members were given indications of their impending redundancy before the emails were sent.

One staffer claimed laptops had been remotely wiped and access to work chat tool Slack and Gmail revoked.

It came as Mr Musk claimed Twitter had seen a drop in revenue as he lashed out at advertisers.

A warning email sent earlier to staff states: "In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday.

"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.

An email sent to Twitter staff warning of layoffs
An email sent to Twitter staff warning of layoffs. Picture: Twitter
Bosses said staff will be notified by 4pm today
Bosses said staff will be notified by 4pm today. Picture: Twitter

“Given the nature of our distributed workforce and our desire to inform impacted individuals as quickly as possible, communications for this process will take place via email.

“By 9am PST on Friday Nov 4th, everyone will receive an individual email with the subject line: Your Role at Twitter.

“Please check your email, including your spam folder.

“If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email.

“If your employment is impacted you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email.”

Simon Balmain, a senior community manager for the platform in the UK, said he believed he had been laid off.

“Everyone got an email saying that there was going to be a large reduction in headcount, and then around an hour later, folks started getting their laptops remotely wiped,” he told the BBC.

Another employee tweeted: “Whatever happens Tweeps, know that you built something special. You made an impact. You're one hell of a #OneTeam.”

There have been suggestions that as many as half of the social media giant's global workforce could be cut. Twitter employs more than 7,500 people around the world.

Elon Musk at Heidi Klum's Halloween party
Elon Musk at Heidi Klum's Halloween party. Picture: Getty

Mr Musk is thought to want to drastically reduce costs at the company after completing his £39 billion takeover of the platform last week.

He has since tweeted "we need to pay the bills somehow" in relation to further plans to begin charging a monthly subscription for users to keep their verified blue tick badge.

He tweeted on Friday afternoon: "Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.

"Extremely messed up! They're trying to destroy free speech in America."

According to an internal email reportedly sent to staff, the job cuts are "an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path" and action is "unfortunately necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward".

Staff have been told that everyone will receive an email by 4pm today, with those who are affected by the cuts set to receive the message on their personal email address rather than the one associated with their work.

"Given the nature of our distributed workforce and our desire to inform impacted individuals as quickly as possible, communications for this process will take place via email," the internal email said.

Some staff working overnight have already claimed to have been logged out of their Twitter laptops and internal messaging systems.

Mr Musk has promised to make sweeping changes at the company and has already removed the entire board, leaving himself as the sole executive, and pledged to change how the site handles content moderation.

He has also suggested allowing banned accounts, including that of former US president Donald Trump, back onto the site.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Rob and Lindsey Burrow a few weeks before he died

Rob Burrow's wife reveals heartbreaking moment she knew rugby league star 'couldn't go on' with MND struggle

Axel Rudakubana will be 'target number one' in prison

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana's sentence won't be referred to Court of Appeal despite claims it's 'unduly lenient'

The damaged shield

'Risk of radioactive leak' after Russian 'high explosive' drone hits Chernobyl, causing 'significant damage'

The fire broke out at the Chiltern Firehouse

Fire engulfs celebrity haunt Chiltern Firehouse as 100 evacuated from luxury hotel

Trump confirms he will meet Starmer in Washington 'in the next few weeks'

Trump to meet with Starmer in Washington 'in the next few weeks' - as JD Vance slams Europe in fiery speech

Both Meghan and Kate shared Valentine's pictures

Harry and Meghan share sweet Valentine's photo after William and Kate also post romantic picture

Jaden Sheriff.

Man found guilty of killing ex-girlfriend's neighbour over 'blue balls', sentenced to life imprisonment

The woman was attacked by a shark

Horror as woman loses both hands after being mauled by shark as husband desperately fights it off

United States Vice-President JD Vance, second right, meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, third left, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Munich

'Putin is a liar': Zelenskyy's warning to Trump as Ukraine's leader voices concern over 'risky' phone calls with Russia

Addenbrookes hospital, Cambridge

Children's surgeon suspended after nine operations fall 'below standards' in Cambridge

Lesley Joseph refuses to discuss Pauline Quirke's dementia diagnosis.

'I won't talk about her at the moment': Lesley Joseph refuses to discuss Pauline Quirke's dementia diagnosis

Ada Bikakci

Girl, 9, killed after being hit by London bus, as driver charged with driving while drunk or on drugs

Exclusive
A small group of secondary school pupils working on practical experiments in a chemistry lab.

Ministers should consider shortening school holidays and letting teachers work from home, union chief says

JD Vance

Free speech is 'in retreat' across Europe, claims JD Vance - as US brands it a 'bigger threat than Russia'

oxford street with shoppers

Two arrested in Oxford St 'celebrity romance scam' after victims coerced into sending £200k to 'well-known boyfriends'

What if Ukraine were the UK? Could you accept surrendering a fifth of our country to Putin after so much sacrifice?

What if Ukraine were the UK? Could you accept surrendering a fifth of our country to Putin after so much sacrifice?