Sources: Elon Musk plans to cut ~3,700 jobs at Twitter, or half of the company's workforce, starting on November 4, and reverse its work-from-anywhere policy

Elon Musk plans to eliminate about 3,700 jobs at Twitter Inc., or half of the social media company's workforce …

Bloomberg 2022-11-03

Context & Ripple Effects

Earlier reports put Twitter's planned reduction at 25% of its more than 7,000 employees; this report sharply raises the proposed scale, following the initial 25% layoff plan. It also pairs the cuts with an end to work-from-anywhere, making the overhaul a change to both headcount and working conditions.

The operational stakes became clearer in subsequent coverage when Twitter sought to bring back dozens of people after [[a:984593|finding some laid-off employees were needed for Musk's planned features or had been dismissed in error]]. That sequence makes staffing knowledge, not only payroll, central to the reorganization.

First-order effects

About 3,700 Twitter employees face job losses, while remaining staff must comply with a return from the company's work-from-anywhere policy beginning November 4.
Elon Musk gains a much smaller organization immediately, but Twitter loses personnel and organizational knowledge at the same time.

Second-order effects

The larger-than-earlier-reported reduction raises execution pressure on Twitter's product, engineering, sales, legal, and trust-and-safety functions, which prior coverage identified as layoff targets.
Twitter may need to reverse individual departures when critical skills or feature work prove uncovered, as the later requests for dozens of employees to return demonstrated.

Third-order effects

If rapid cuts and selective rehiring become the operating pattern, Twitter's structure shifts toward a smaller workforce whose value is measured against near-term owner priorities rather than stable functional coverage.
The episode points to acquisition-driven restructurings in which payroll reduction and workplace-policy changes are executed together, with continuity risk becoming a constraint on how far costs can be cut.

The trend: Twitter is becoming a test case for owner-led restructuring that compresses headcount and rewrites work rules in a single move.

Discussion

@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
NEW: Elon Musk plans to eliminate ~3,700 jobs at Twitter on Friday. About half the staff. He also plans to end the “work from anywhere” policy... story w/ @EdLudlow https://twitter.com/...
@daniellecitron Danielle Citron on x
Hey @TwitterSafety are we still a thing? Is our Trust and Safety Council meeting in my calendar for November 9 off? Let us know. Cheers. https://twitter.com/...
@sheonhan Sheon Han on x
My employee login @Twitter vs. Lettuce Let's goooooooooo https://twitter.com/...
@annevclark @annevclark on x
The reason unions are badass is if a billionaire walks into your office and starts demanding you work 12 hours a day 7 days a week to prove to him you deserve your job, you and your coworkers can legally make that one of the worst days of his life.
@msshanitarenee Shanita Hubbard on x
This is awful. Not only do I personally know some dope folks who work for Twitter, but I know the pain of an unexpected income loss. I hope they all land in a much better space. This would be a great time to relaunch BlackPlanet. https://twitter.com/...
@marketurbanism @marketurbanism on x
In March, Twitter's CEO committed to remote work. Today we're learning that there's no such thing as a credible commitment to remote work. Workers - choose your place of residence accordingly. https://twitter.com/...
@fchollet @fchollet on x
If you work at Twitter, you have my sympathy. Thank you for your work so far — I have really been enjoying the app and I've derived a ton of value from it over the years. Grateful. And good luck with what's next! https://twitter.com/...
@thecryptomonk @thecryptomonk on x
What did they need 7,500 employees for??? https://twitter.com/...
@adamserwer @adamserwer on x
I really can't emphasize enough how important it is to unionize your workplace so that your work conditions are not at the whim of your bosses, whether your work in an office, a kitchen, a store, a field, or a factory floor https://twitter.com/...
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
What Elon Musk is doing with Twitter employees - and what all the other external advisors are assisting to - is deliberately cruel. I'd have some compassion if it was a company fighting for its life. But it's not. Never meet your heroes - or see them up close. https://twitter.com…
@mdudas Mike Dudas on x
the silicon valley mid-career mediocrity vacation is ending https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@schmittnyc Rob Schmitt on x
Half of twitter gone. And “work from anywhere” policy is over. Get back to work, brats. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@realdvb @realdvb on x
seems like if you wanted to build the next twitter as this one seems to be spiraling into the abyss, ~3700 people with the exact kind of experience you'd want would be a good place to start https://twitter.com/...
@mattbc @mattbc on x
🧵Some legal thoughts • CA state law (The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, “WARN") requires 60 days notice of this kind of mass layoff (for more, please see https://edd.ca.gov/...). Violations of WARN can be reported to @CA_DIR via https://www.dir.ca.gov/... http…
@zenofdesign @zenofdesign on x
Nothing says “We're run by real-life adults” like the people making decisions about massive layoffs putting all the details in a Slack channel any employee can see. https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Screenshots from a Slack channel since made private put the number at 3,738 — we assume full-time Twitter employees. A ‘RIF review’ meeting with Musk and his team is scheduled to be taking place right now. https://twitter.com/...
@cwarzel Charlie Warzel on x
Reports coming out now that Musk is cutting half of Twitter's staff. I wrote about how massive,sudden cuts like that could be a huge liability for the company https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@juliahobsbawm Julia Hobsbawm on x
Of course ditching half of the workforce is the story. But in the smaller print so too is “work from anywhere” policy at @Twitter. Many bosses will be licking their lips at this thinking they can emulate @elonmusk but let's see how that goes: pointless presenteeism doesn't work
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
At least it's clear what you can expect if you work at one of Elon's companies. It's not just Twitter employees working over the weekend: the 50+ Tesla engineers as well. Hard to find any other company that pushes people this crazy, for no real reason. Oh, plus some firings. http…
@inafried Ina Fried on x
New: Confirming Bloomberg on Twitter layoffs and adding details on the plan to force all workers back to the office - even those hired remotely during the pandemic. W @sarafischer and @danprimack https://www.axios.com/...
@corpaltaddison Addison on x
I'm heartbroken for my old teammates being worked around the clock to prove themselves to leaders who will not stand up for them. As so many folks have said already, I'm here for any of y'all in any capacity I can be—interview prep, company advice, referrals, recruiters' contacts
@corpaltaddison Addison on x
I'm still grieving the job I loved so much 8 months ago. I still don't know if any job in tech will ever come close to the energy of working with the kindest, smartest people on the coolest projects on the coolest app. It was my dream job in every way until it became a nightmare.
@cassiecodes Cassie Evans on x
Yeah, I'd rather be fired than stick around for double the work and working in office. Brutal. There's gonna be a lot of talented folks hitting the market. https://twitter.com/...
@nick_craver Nick Craver on x
Thinking of a lot of friends and colleagues that built a great thing right now. And some egomaniac burning the work of thousands of others, to gain nothing. https://twitter.com/...
@martinsfp @martinsfp on x
50%! And the (very good, modern way of building a diverse workforce) work-from-anywhere policy reportedly to be reversed too. https://twitter.com/...
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
Employees have been bracing for this for weeks. These numbers and this timing have changed over time. But it sounds like things are starting to solidify.
@josephmenn Joseph Menn on x
Half of all employees? That will maybe not be great for morale. Or safety. Or moderation. Or engineering solidity. Or countering malign election disinformation. Unfettered free speech is great if you are not inundated with so much stupid stuff that you can't have a conversation. …
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
It is possible that exceptions will be made for some employees on the remote work policy. But generally, the days of “everyone can work from anywhere they want” are over
@heihachimachi Theo on x
the website is gonna start having some very funny base functionality issues and I for one am delighted https://twitter.com/...
@secretnofun @secretnofun on x
This is the Silicon Valley equivalent of Paul Bremer disbanding the Iraqi Army. https://twitter.com/...
@lib_crusher @lib_crusher on x
Lmao at announcing this before all their engineers finish their desperate crunch projects https://twitter.com/...
@defnotbeka @defnotbeka on x
y'all shoulda unionized when you had the fuxking chance now you're hosed https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Musk and his advisors are meeting to review Twitter's reduction in force plan. In a Slack channel that was accidentally made visible internally today, a member of Twitter's legal team said the current plan is to eliminate roughly 3,800 roles https://www.theverge.com/...
@paulcolgan Paul Colgan on x
Bloomberg reports half of Twitter staff to be laid-off by Musk. It employs over 500 people in its European HQ in Dublin. https://twitter.com/...
@laurenthoman @laurenthoman on x
*nudges you* hey kid, you wanna see a magic trick? Watch close, we're about to see $44 billion disappear. https://twitter.com/...
@parismarx Paris Marx on x
Here it is: Elon Musk is planning to absolutely gut Twitter. ~3,700 people will lose their jobs on Friday, which is about half the company. Musk also plans to end Twitter's remote work policy, forcing employees back to the office. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@hunterwalk @hunterwalk on x
Elon might be the harmful irresponsible doctor who walks into ER & tries to save the critical condition patient with Ivermectin but he didn't put the patient in the hospital so yeah, he's not my fav, but lots of people made lots of money at TWTR w/o solving profits, safety, etc
@qualityrye Ryan Sutton on x
honestly feel like i've witnessed more nuanced and surgical workforce reductions in hollywood movies that cartoonishly vilify private equity/the finance industry https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@kyliebytes Kylie Robison on x
I have to be honest, it's deeply depressing to watch Twitter employees work over the weekend and sleep in the office to push out impossible deliverables that not one user wants, get zero internal comms, only to hear through the media thaf half of them are about to get laid off.
@dandrezner Daniel W. Drezner on x
Nothing says I should pay $8 a month for services more than *checks notes* slashing customer service in half. https://twitter.com/...
@arthurschwartz Arthur Schwartz on x
No more remote work for twitter employees. Too bad, so sad. Twitter plans to order remaining workers back to office after layoffs https://www.axios.com/...
@arielbogle Ariel Bogle on x
Given the rumours of mass layoffs to come at Twitter, this guide from @tech_actions is getting shared around — an interesting example of tech industry organising we see in the US (and rarely if ever here), not to mention the tips are widely applicable https://collectiveaction.tec…
@ranimolla Rani Molla on x
Also notable that each time Musk makes a “no remote” pronouncement, he's actually laying a bunch of people off. Makes it harder to see how many would have left on their own because they want flexible work. https://twitter.com/...
@jasonschreier Jason Schreier on x
Love to borrow money to buy a company and then saddle that company with the debt so I can lay off thousands of people https://twitter.com/...
@parismarx Paris Marx on x
“Layoff lists were drawn up and ranked based on individuals' contributions to Twitter's code during their time at the company ... The assessment was made by both Tesla personnel and Twitter managers.” https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@isosteph Stephanie on x
i have to respect elon musk's commitment to educating ordinary internet users about all the different kinds of corporate litigation you can do
@quantian1 @quantian1 on x
Personally, if I ever decided to pivot to smut-peddling, I would start by hiring a giant compliance team and in-house legal department, before poaching $$$$ payment processing execs and retaining the most expensive lobbyists money can buy. Good luck tho! https://twitter.com/...
@chrislhayes Chris Hayes on x
boy I dunno if that's gonna help https://twitter.com/...
@dcwoodruff Chase Woodruff on x
Starting to feel as simple as: Twitter was a website where it was briefly possible for an average person to tell some of the richest and most powerful people in the world how stupid and malicious they were, and for this reason it had to be destroyed. https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Collective Action in Tech has put together a good guide for Tweeps who are affected by the layoffs here: https://collectiveaction.tech/ ...
@claytravis Clay Travis on x
Elon Musk is firing half of @twitter employees on Friday according to @Bloomberg. He's also ending all remote work and requiring remaining employees to show up at their offices.
@patblanchfield @patblanchfield on x
my man trying to pump and then dump The Discourse itself is both really something and also feels entirely expected https://twitter.com/...
@aleyda Aleyda Solis on x
Why those wealthy, big co leaders who can work wherever they want and have seen themselves the benefits of remote work without real issues decide to roll it back?! Also, at this pace I see many of us end up migrating to “spammy” LinkedIn bc there won't be Twitter left :/ https://…
@markdstrauss Mark Strauss on x
Elon Musk is a visionary thinker who believes a company must adhere to a work schedule that was standardized 80 years before the Internet. https://www.axios.com/...
@justinbaragona Justin Baragona on x
Essentially what vulture capitalists have been doing to newspapers for years — just in hyperdrive. https://twitter.com/...
@davidsacks David Sacks on x
The entitled elite is not mad that they have to pay $8/month. They're mad that anyone can pay $8/month.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@AOC Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8
@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan
@maxboot @maxboot on x
Elon and his friends seem to think that abusing their customers until they pay up is an effective marketing strategy. We'll see if they're right. https://twitter.com/...
@robertkazinsky Rob Kazinsky on x
Years ago, before verified accounts were a thing, back when I was on Eastenders, I was contacted multiple times by parents of children who had been “conversing” with me online. 11-15 year old children that had been talking with a fake me. I was informed one of these children-
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
https://twitter.com/...
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
The “if twitter's so bad, why are you still here” comments are funny, because that's not how it work. It was never how it worked. If you don't like your landlord you don't throw your keys in the trash and go live on the street. 1/2
@oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x
Is there a reason why can't there be a premium Twitter product AND a separate verification process?
@sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x
Besides cutting half the workforce Friday, Musk plans to start charging for verification on Monday: https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@williamshatner William Shatner on x
I think the $8 is to submit a complaint.😉 To answer your question if I would pay for a blue check? No. I don't need to pay for false status when I have real. Elon possibly thinks people would. Knowing the delicate egos of people online; he's probably right. #noblueisbetter https:…
@halomancer1 @halomancer1 on x
https://twitter.com/...
@hashtaggriswold Alex Griswold on x
The $8 verification might be the worst mistake Elon ever made. That's legally a contract, which means it falls under government regulation, which means the First Amendment applies. That's why you can't yell fire after buying a movie ticket.
@felixsalmon Felix Salmon on x
2 questions: (1) What's the realistic lifetime value, to Twitter, of a person who decides to start paying $8/mo for a blue checkmark? Feel free to include future price hikes/reductions in your calculations. (2) What does @jason think the answer to (1) is?
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
A $99 annual plan for Twitter Blue! Everyone gets the edit button for free! And that all-hands meeting is canceled! All the latest from inside Twitter's regime change in today's @platformer for subscribers ➡️ https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@prchovanec Patrick Chovanec on x
The issue isn't whether $96/year is a lot of money. The issue is what you get for that money. If it's a lot of trolling and harassment from a circus troupe of randos, I'm not sure I'm willing to pay a dime. That's not about free speech, it's how I choose to use my time and money.
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
False populism is a scourge of our age. The blue check obsession is ridiculous. Yes it apportions a minor degree of privilege on this dumb site, but nothing substantive and it's embarrassing to obsess over it. Many blue checks are not conventional “elites.” I make $50k/year.
@arr @arr on x
The hilarious tragedy of Elon Musk is he really wants to post but he can't. The man can't post. It's not in his blood and it never will be. He can spend all the money in the world and he'll never be a poster. The real ones know exactly what I mean.
@saylor Michael Saylor⚡️ on x
If you don't pay for the product, you are the product.
@simonstalenhag Simon Stålenhag on x
How do I get unverified? I want that blue thing gone. I'm getting exceedingly uncomfortable having a symbol next to my name that suggests I'm paying money for a chance to get likes on twitter.
@neontaster Noam Blum on x
Newsroom complaints that the company doesn't verify them will be my favorite part of this entire ordeal. https://twitter.com/...
@joshuaphilll @joshuaphilll on x
Not exactly thrilled at Elon Musk tanking this platform, but I do think he's doing the world a service by showing us that “genius entrepreneurs” are often silly spoiled children who got where they are from daddy's money, government subsidies, and conning people.
@rightwingcope @rightwingcope on x
More like this: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
Social media conversion rate is low (if you post a link maybe 0.1% of your followers will click. If you say follow me on <platform>, maybe 0.1% of that 0.1% will). All big accounts know this. The celebs deleting their profiles are making politcal statements (at personal cost) 2/3
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
Most accounts won't do this. They will stay past the very end as they shift their followers over to a new platform. The worse things get, the higher the conversion rate. You'll only realize people are actually leaving when the platform is a graveyard of inactive accounts. 3/3
@robleathern Rob Leathern on x
The strategy here seems like a pretty decent one actually. The main goal is probably not revenue for now, but moving to verified identity for a larger % of users while they scale ability to handle it. My team built IDV at FB and it is a huge pain in the ass when for n>1 countries…
@keffals @keffals on x
elon musk is the kinkiest freak of all time. no one in human history has paid 44 billion dollars to get bullied before https://twitter.com/...
@julian_epp Jules on x
Looks like Twitter is changing the verification symbol too. Google “Elon Musk emerald” for more info https://twitter.com/...
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
Pay us $8 a month and we'll use it to expose war crimes and take down spies, not pay off scarily large bank loans. https://twitter.com/...
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
A possible sneak peek of what the new verification badge might look like? Left is how it looks on the public Twitter app (blue check only). Right is how it looks like on Twitter's internal app ("official account") https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@steventdennis Steven Dennis on x
The election is Tuesday. https://twitter.com/...
@hkesvani @hkesvani on x
Elon's $8 verification plan is stupid even by its own logic. His fanboys hate the media people who got them by default back in 2015 because & also want to go back to forums where they were the power users with reputations - something his plan also rejects
@cobie @cobie on x
Blue tick $8/month. Customizable tick (eg. green for climate, rainbow for pride, orange for bitcoin cult etc) $12/month. Golden tick $500/month and you get to go to Elon's new chocolate factory once per year
@hsajwanization @hsajwanization on x
One of the reasons that @elonmusk wants to charge for the blue checkmark is to blowout all these bots, fake, and “keyboard warrior” accounts.
@matt_levine Matt Levine on x
it reminds me of when bloomberg put up a paywall and people tweeted “i like reading matt levine but not enough to pay,” which made me really mad. think how much more of it he's getting.
@johncoogan John Coogan on x
if Twitter starts charging $8 per month, Apple is going to take $2.40 of that. very interested to see if Elon tries to find a way around that. he's never been hit with the Apple tax before.
@erikvoorhees Erik Voorhees on x
Let's remember that @elonmusk charging $8 for premium Twitter experience means Twitter becomes the product again, instead of you. And if $8 is too much, you're free to remain as the product.
@q_review Quinton Reviews🎬 on x
So, in theory, it would be extremely easy for any user to make an account called “Italian Elon Musk,” pay $8 for verification, and then just post whatever they want https://twitter.com/...
@thehowie @thehowie on x
“Users who already have a blue verification badge will have a multi-month grace period before they will either need to pay for the badge or lose it...” This will mitigate the concerns about stigma. First smart move I have seen. Now curious to see who WANTS verification. https://t…
@mepfuller Matt Fuller on x
If Elon Musk just tweets a few more times about how all the “blue checks"should want to pay $8 a month for the honor of having a blue check next to their names, I'm sure everyone will suddenly recognize the value.
@timcast Tim Pool on x
I'll spend 8$ after Elon frees the political prisoners and releases documents on the DHS collusion with Twitter to control and suppress information Considering he's already working with “New Knowledge” I really doubt he will do anything
@caitiedelaney Caitie Delaney on x
Yeah that was so crazy when Starbucks was always free and then they suddenly started charging $8 for it https://twitter.com/...
@mnateshyamalan @mnateshyamalan on x
if we all pay $8 for a checkmark and change our names to Elon Musk, im confident we can jeremy renner app this shit to death in a month
@atrupar Aaron Rupar on x
ELON MUSK: Hell yeah I overpaid for Twitter, I'm the richest man in the world so whatevs ELON MUSK 1 WEEK LATER: Give me $8 please my family is dying
@matt_levine Matt Levine on x
i was not expecting this to end with the world's richest man spending all day on twitter begging people for $8 but it's extremely funny? https://twitter.com/...
@dancow @dancow on x
As this article says, @verge reported how Twitter dropped its plan to monetize porn after they realized how bad they were at detecting child porn Seeing how Elon's “solution” to stop bots is an $8/month sub, seems like he isn't bringing in better AI for content analysis https://t…
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
This app is just gonna be broken all next week as an election is going on. https://twitter.com/...
@martinsfp @martinsfp on x
Next week = Chaos and confusion inside Twitter as the entire org chart is rewritten and a high-profile new paid offering is launched after just one week of development time... all during the Midterms. this-is-fine dot gif https://twitter.com/...
@gcluley Graham Cluley on x
I'm sure this unswerving loyalty to duty and devotion to Elon Musk will be rewarded handsomely... https://www.theverge.com/...
@cushbomb Matt Christman on x
$8 a month is a steal! I've been paying Elon Musk $50 a month already just to support his general endeavors.
@junlper Transgender Marx on x
honestly pretty funny that elon is just scattershot posting prices of other things and being like “hmm you pay that for this why not $8 for verification” he just simply does not understand why people do not like his plan lol

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