Elon Musk told potential investors that he plans to eliminate nearly 75% of Twitter’s staff as part of his deal to take over the social media company, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
Job cuts are expected in the coming months regardless of who owns the company, according to the report, which cited interviews and documents.
News of Musk’s plans, should he eventually take over the business, comes at a difficult time for Twitter. The company said in July that it had already “significantly slowed hiring” amid a broader economic downturn in the tech industry, with many companies announcing recent layoffs and layoffs.
On Thursday night, Bloomberg reported that an internal memo circulated by Twitter said there were “no plans for any company-wide layoffs.”
Meanwhile, the Musk buyout drama has fueled low morale, causing employees to leave in droves. Twitter has been embroiled in a legal battle with the billionaire for months after Musk tried to walk away from the $44 billion buyout deal, before reversing course earlier this month and saying he would ultimately go through with it. .
“Twitter appears to be rudderless and in a downward spiral, and it’s only been made worse by Musk,” said Carl Tobias, the Williams Chair of Law at the University of Richmond. “Looks like it’s going to be rough sailing for a while.”
Human resources staff at the social media company have told employees they are not planning mass layoffs, but documents showed extensive plans to lay off staff and cut infrastructure costs were already in place before Musk was offered. to buy the company, the Washington Post reported. .
But while Twitter’s current management planned to lay off 25% of staff by the end of next year, the new report revealed that Musk wants to reduce Twitter’s 7,500 employees to a “skeleton staff” of about 2,000 people.
The layoffs will undoubtedly have an impact on Twitter’s day-to-day operations, including its ability to moderate harmful content and combat security issues, Tobias said. It comes after a scathing whistleblower report in September accused Twitter of failings on both fronts, alleging “tremendous” shortcomings at the company.
According to the Washington Post report, Twitter had already anticipated cutting funding for infrastructure sites, including its data centers. Musk has said that, as Twitter’s owner, he will loosen content moderation policies and potentially move the company back to a subscription-based revenue model. Twitter did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment.
The current battle between Musk and Twitter began when the businessman tried to back out of a deal to buy the company in May after claiming Twitter underestimated the number of bot and spam accounts on its platform. Twitter accused him of “making up” an excuse to withdraw.
The bitter standoff had to go to court before Musk made a dramatic U-turn in early October, saying he would continue the deal on its original terms. The billionaire is now raising funds to close the purchase ahead of a deadline next Friday, by which time a judge has said the transaction must be finalized.
Reuters contributed reporting.
