The emails started arriving in Twitter Inc. employees’ personal inboxes in the early morning hours Friday: “Today is your last working day at the company,” the message read.
As people frantically refreshed their work and personal accounts to learn their fate, new owner Elon Musk sought to defend his decision to terminate thousands of jobs. He said the company had experienced a “massive drop in revenue” due to a flight of advertisers from the social network.
It was an eventful week for Twitter. Since his takeover last week, Musk has assembled a transition team of close confidants to help identify deep cost cuts and quick ways to jump-start revenue. The global workforce reductions are expected to affect 3,700 jobs — about half of the company. Some outgoing staff said they will be paid at least two months of severance. Musk is also looking for places to cut within Twitter’s technical infrastructure.