Newly minted Twitter owner Elon Musk is following through on his plans to cut jobs at the tech company. According to the New York Times, managers have been asked to make a list of Twitter employees to lay off. The move could go into effect as soon as Nov. 1, the date when employees are expected to receive stock grants, which “typically represent a significant portion of employees’ pay,” per the Times. Previously, Musk told investors that he plans to fire 75 percent of Twitter staff, but it is unclear how many of the 7,500 employees will be laid off.
Last week, Musk started his new job as “Chief Twit” and promptly fired top executives at Twitter including now-former CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and head of legal and public policy lead Vijaya Gadde. The executives were allegedly fired “for cause” which means they might not receive the multi-million dollar “golden parachute” severance package that employees receive when they’re fired through no fault of their own.
Although the details of his plans to overhaul Twitter are vague, Musk has said that he wants to make Twitter a “digital town square” which involves making the company private, reducing content moderation, and overturning lifelong bans of Twitter accounts like former President Donald Trump. Such actions have many users worried that trolls and misinformation could run rampant, but in a message to Twitter advertisers Musk promised that Twitter would not become a “free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.” Musk also plans on creating a content moderation council with “widely diverse viewpoints.”
As a new era of Twitter begins, the world is watching to see how these changes will pan out and if Twitter will become the “warm and welcoming” platform Musk says he intends to create.
