Report: Elon Musk set to fire roughly half of Twitter's workers

[brooklynite]

CBS News

Elon Musk is set to cut about 3,700 jobs at Twitter, representing about half of the company's staff, according to Bloomberg News.

The push to slash costs comes about a week after the Tesla CEO took control of the social media company following completion of his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. Musk immediately fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, the company's chief financial officer and top lawyer, while other members of the company's leadership team have also left.

Twitter didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the reported job cuts.

Musk overpaid for Twitter by about $20 billion, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who told CBS MoneyWatch that he believed that would force the billionaire to cut between 30% to 50% of the company's employees. In its most recent quarter, Twitter lost $270 million and its revenue slipped as advertising growth slowed.

[Walleye]

1. Successful businessmen do not have to lay off thousands of their workers

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. Perhaps Musk went over his head on this deal.

Paying $20 Billion above what Twitter was worth? Does not sound all that successful to me.

Advertisers revenues down and bailing are not good signs either.

[Walleye]

4. I'm starting to think business and politics don't mix together any better than religion and politics

[ProfessorGAC]

13. I Don't Know Where They Got Twenty

He paid $44 billion for a maturing company with $14 billion in assets.
That seems like $30 billion, to me.

[jimfields33]

9. Actually, most successful businessman will take a look at the entire organization

Cutting some of the fat is not a bad idea. However, 50% might be a little overboard. I’m sure he’ll evaluate and come up with the right number. 7000 people working for one website seems excessive to me anyway.

[RKP5637]

17. Absolutely!!! K&R!!! Laying off thousands of workers is a businessman

in a tight corner not knowing WTF to do, so they go after the vulnerable ones. And MSM loves it, making the hard decisions. When in reality, this is how sociopaths operate, not necessary a successful businessman, a sociopath just can't feel the pain.

[Joinfortmill]

3. Gonna drive it into a cesspool.

[jeffreyi]

35. Twitter Bingo.

How long? Will it survive for a year?

[themaguffin]

44. It already is one. His irrational "leadership" may kill it though.

[ananda]

5. As I said, every last one of them should've just quit.

They still should.

[Cattledog]

10. You quit you don't get unemployment benefits.

[tinrobot]

37. What, a few hundred per week?

Average salaries at Twitter are $150k/year, the really good people make well over $200k.

I doubt $450/week will make much difference in their decision.

Plus, most of them will be snatched up by other companies right after leaving.

[jimfields33]

11. That would be great for the company. No unemployment or money out the door.

[RainCaster]

16. No stock options when you walk away

[Gore1FL]

23. It's a private company now. I don't think anyone is getting options. nt

[exboyfil]

25. Still under whatever contract they signed or were promised

You take on those obligations when you acquire a company.

[Johonny]

33. Even SpaceX has stock options

[RainCaster]

39. Of course they do

The only thing that changes is how valuation is set.

[exboyfil]

24. Never give up your rights as an employee

Just make sure you are finding your next job in your spare time.

[leftstreet]

6. Who knew Twitter employed so many people n/t

[Casady1]

7. I bet his packages

are 2 weeks severance.

[Cattledog]

12. The article says "Fire" that means you get nothing.

Musk is a POS

[prodigitalson]

20. not so sure

I know several people who were fired from their jobs - for cause even - and still got unemployment. I think they had to jump through some hoops to get it. There is no conceivable way half the the workforce was fired for cause. I think they'll get it.

[exboyfil]

26. These are mass economic layoffs and their are additional protections for employees

in many cases (advanced notification for example). Hope Musk has some good labor lawyers working for him (actually I don't hope because I want to see Musk finally get exposed).

[exboyfil]

28. The high tech workers

that remain will see how there peers have been treated.

Unless I am just a few years away from retirement I am aggressively working to get another job.

[Johonny]

34. Musk is used to revolving door workforce

It's how he runs Tesla and SpaceX. He has never had to face unions or worker protections.

[Beetwasher.]

8. What Kind of Dipshit Overpays by $20B?

He's gonna completely demolish the place and liquidate everything he can, take the money and run. it's a slash and burn mission. Then leave the banks on the hook for all the loans. What a fraud. It serves everyone right who gets fleeced on this deal, they all deserve eachother. I feel bad for the employees though.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. See Post 13

It’s not 20 billion. It’s more than that.

[Beetwasher.]

15. Yeah, You're Probably Right

What an idiot.

[RKP5637]

18. Yep, the employees are always the ones that suffer. And they generally are working their

asses off trying to do a good job, but success is doubtful since their management is so F'ed up.

[exboyfil]

27. Very compliant bankers gave him lots of money

With no coherent business plan. Must be nice to be part of the privileged class.

[Beetwasher.]

32. Those Bankers Should be the One's to Lose Their Jobs

Their just as big dipshits as he is, though I guess it's not their money. Idiots all around and the little guys will pay the bill.

[sarcasmo]

19. Elon said 75 percent before purchase, he prefers Chines labor.

[alterfurz]

21. I initially misread that as "Elon Musk to set fire to roughly half of Twitter's workers"...

...and thought: seems extreme, but not entirely unbelievable.

[Emrys]

43. So did I!

I thought it might be a desperation stunt with the Tesla Not a Flamethrower to follow up the sink stunt.

It might be more entertaining in the long run if he set fire to his hair. That would get him some attention and might burn quite a while. Not that I'd really like to see that happen, of course.

I heard that when Twitter laid off staff in the past, they didn't have any problems finding new jobs immediately. I don't know if the tech scene has changed significantly since then.

[GreenWave]

22. All hail another job creator!

Remember that myth? Just give $ to the rich and it will rain jobs upon us.

[Dorian Gray]

29. I feel like he's trying to destroy twitter

which....

oh well. lol

[exboyfil]

31. Fine by me if he burns through his equity doing that

What makes me angry are the bankers that have loaned money to him for this venture. There is no basis to make those loans unless they are secured in some fashion (which I doubt).

Websites are easy to recreate. Twitter can be replaced.

[Gordolfon]

30. Little Hitler is off to a rough start

I see.

[jeffreyi]

36. Hitler apparently made a lot of money from book sales.

https://www.businessinsider.com/hitler-made-an-absurd-about-of-money-off-of-mein-kampf-2016-1

[tinrobot]

38. Not so fast. If you "fire" that many people, you legally have to give 60-day notice

It's called the WARN act.

WARN protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring employers to give a 60-day notice to the affected employees and both state and local representatives before a plant closing or mass layoff. Advance notice provides employees and their families time to transition and adjust to the potential loss of employment, time to seek alternative jobs and, if necessary, time to obtain skills training or retraining to successfully compete in the job market.

https://edd.ca.gov/en/Jobs_and_Training/Layoff_Services_WARN

Personally, I think he's trying to scare people into quitting so he doesn't have to go through this process.

[SWBTATTReg]

40. From what I understand, Twitter has never made a profit yet. I could be wrong, but they (the

Twitter folks) have been trying to monetize Twitter since its inception. I think that musk is going to come up w/ zero too, perhaps he might gain some businesses etc., but the overwhelming audience is the consumer, I suspect. In any event, I hope that those at Twitter get to exercise their stock options (usually when a company is bought out, the options become vested immediately, I can't see how musk can prevent that).

[Trailrider1951]

41. Musk reminds me of a 3 year old who gets a new toy, breaks it apart

and proceeds to throw a tantrum demanding the next amusing distraction.

$44 billion. What a waste! Think of the good he could have done with that money.

[Yavin4]

42. And they wonder why people "Quiet Quit"

Imagine going above and beyond on a daily basis. Giving up watching your kid play baseball on the weekend because you were working on a project that had a tight deadline.

All of your sacrifice for absolutely nothing.