The Elon Musk and Twitter deal could result in huge numbers of employees to be laid off
(Picture: Yui Mok/PA)Elon Musk has informed investors he plans to lay off nearly 75 per cent of Twitter’s workforce if he takes control of the social media company, according to The Washington Post.
With 7,500 employees, this percentage would result in 5,625 people being out of jobs. As ever with the billionaire’s sweeping statements, however, the truth might be less dramatic.
Twitter’s current management is planning to cut the company’s payroll by about $800 million (£719 million) by next year, according to Business Insider, whether the deal with Musk goes ahead or not.
This would mean at least a quarter of Twitter employees would be laid off, according to calculations from The Post, accounting for about 1,875 people.
Large-scale layoffs are far from unusual at the moment, with many tech companies faced with difficult choices around hiring freezes and layoffs amid a global slowing economy.
However, no other tech company of Twitter's size has made such dramatic layoffs in recent months, raising questions about the future of the social media platform.
For a site that already has issues with content moderation, with many users claiming that the moderation tools are not enough to protect people on the site, cutting staff so dramatically could result in a higher rate of offensive content on the site.
In addition, experts speaking to the Post claim that losing so many staff members could leave Twitter vulnerable to a higher risk of hacks. Indeed, it was only in August when a whistleblower complaint from Twitter's former head of security accusing the company of negligent and reckless cybersecurity policies was made public.
With less staff on hand to stay on top of ongoing content moderation and cybersecurity policies, it may be difficult for Twitter to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to digital safety.
