Twitter Inc. will begin mass layoffs Friday morning, as Elon Musk looks to slash costs at the social-media company that he acquired last week for $44 billion.
In an unsigned email sent to Twitter’s 7,500 employees late Thursday, the company said: “In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday.” Employees will be notified by email by 9 a.m. Pacific whether they still have a job or not.
“We recognize 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,” the company email said.
It added that Twitter’s offices will be closed and badge access suspended “to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data.”
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The email did not say how many jobs will be cut, but Bloomberg News reported Wednesday said 50% of its workforce — about 3,700 people — could be laid off.
Separately Thursday, Reuters reported Musk has ordered Twitter executives to find $1 billion in annual cloud and infrastructure cost savings, reportedly saying the company is losing about $3 million a day. Cuts that deep raise concerns that Twitter could crash at peak times, like the midterm election, sources told Reuters.
