Twitter layoffs begin as Elon Musk admits ‘massive drop’ in revenue
Billionaire blames financial woes on activist groups ‘trying to destroy free speech in America’
Twitter temporarily closed its offices and cut workers’ access to internal systems on Friday as it began sacking hundreds of staff without notice, a week after the billionaire Elon Musk took over the social media platform.
The firings, which could see as many as half of Twitter’s 7,500 workers dismissed, came as Musk revealed brands had begun pulling their advertisements, leading to what he said was a “massive drop in revenue”.
Audi, General Motors, General Mills and Pfizer were among those who paused spending on the service, amid growing concern about the direction Twitter will take under Musk.
Just four days before the US midterm elections, in which hundreds of politicians are running for election, there were claims the “entire” curation team across Twitter had been dismissed, potentially jeopardizing the company’s ability to counter misinformation, with one sacked moderator warning of a risk content could become “more toxic”.
Some staff awoke on Friday to find they were locked out of their laptops and their access to the company Gmail and Slack had been revoked. Chris Younie, who works for Twitter in entertainment partnerships in the UK, tweeted: “Well this isn’t looking promising. Can’t log into emails. Mac won’t turn on. But so grateful this is happening at 3am. Really appreciate the thoughtfulness on the timing front guys…”
