Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Twitter will likely be shedding staff members, it said in an email obtained by NBC News.
In the e-mail, sent Thursday evening, Twitter said it could notify staffers by email about their employment.
“We recognize that this can impact quite a few individuals who’ve made useful contributions to Twitter, but this motion is unfortunately vital to make sure the corporate’s success moving forward,” the e-mail said.
It had been widely reported that Musk planned to slash the corporate’s 7,500-person payroll after he finalized his $44 billion acquisition late last week. He immediately dismissed CEO Parag Agrawal, in addition to Twitter’s chief financial officer and its head of legal, public policy and trust and safety upon taking up the corporate.
A Twitter worker said Thursday’s email was the primary communication staff members had received from Twitter for the reason that acquisition Oct. 27.
“It’s total chaos, house melting down, everyone looking towards this email,” the worker said.
In keeping with the e-mail from Twitter, staff members will get notices either through their company email accounts — in the event that they still have jobs — or their personal email accounts if their “employment is impacted.”
The corporate said staffing is being reduced in “an effort to position Twitter on a healthy path.”
Worries about layoffs began to emerge before the buyout transaction was complete, but Twitter’s general counsel urged employees to not dwell on rumors before Musk took ownership.
Some Twitter employees have expressed a desire to be laid off and get severance, and a few are concerned that disagreeing with Musk could mean losing each their jobs and the exit package.
“At the tip of this nightmare, I higher get a money prize,” a Twitter worker said.
Meanwhile, Musk has sought to reassure advertisers, saying in a post on Twitter that the platform wouldn’t turn into a “free-for-all hellscape.” He also told the European Union that he planned to comply with its Digital Services Act, which penalizes firms in the event that they don’t control illegal content, Reuters reported Monday.
Musk has also promised to loosen rules about what sort of speech is allowed, prompting concerns that the changes could drive away users and advertisers. General Motors announced it could suspend its promoting on the platform.
He has also said he plans to form a content-moderation council that might include “widely diverse viewpoints”; no changes have been made to date.
Reports suggested that hate speech surged within the opening days of Musk’s ownership of the location. Musk himself posted a link to a baseless anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theory Sunday concerning the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Musk deleted the tweet.
It was amongst nearly two dozen tweets Musk posted last weekend, few of which offered additional clarity about what the location will appear to be under his leadership.