Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey took the blame for the massive layoffs under its new CEO, Elon Musk.
Employees were informed Thursday via a memo that Twitter would be cutting down its workforce. It was already planning broad layoffs prior to Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform, and it would have affected up to a quarter of the staff, unnamed sources told the Washington Post. The move would have been part of cost-saving measures taken by the board meant to save the company $700 million.
“I realize many are angry with me,” Dorsey tweeted of his former employees Saturday. “I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.”
LESS THAN A THIRD OF TWITTER USERS WOULD PAY FOR VERIFICATION STATUS: POLL
The company had a purported 2,000 employees just before going public in 2013, according to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since Dorsey stepped down from Twitter’s board and Musk took over as CEO, there are over 7,500 employees.
“I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter,” Dorsey said. “I don’t expect that to be mutual in this moment … or ever … and I understand.”
I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don’t expect that to be mutual in this moment…or ever…and I understand. 💙
— jack (@jack) November 5, 2022
“Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” Musk said in a tweet Friday, some eight hours after employees were informed of their status. “Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.”
Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.
Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
“While we said goodbye to incredibly talented friends and colleagues yesterday, our core moderation capabilities remain in place,” Twitter’s Head of Safety and Integrity Yoel Roth wrote in a tweet.
Here are the facts about where Twitter’s Trust & Safety and moderation capacity stands today:
tl;dr: While we said goodbye to incredibly talented friends and colleagues yesterday, our core moderation capabilities remain in place.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) November 4, 2022
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A class-action lawsuit was filed against the social media platform before employees were made aware of their employment status Friday morning. The suit alleges that Twitter violated federal law requiring a 60-day notice before a planned layoff.
