Discussion

• @willoremus Will Oremus on x

  Here's the first official communication from Twitter's new leadership to its staff, a week after Musk took over: a fun game where you get to find out if you're laid off or not based by 9am tomorrow, based on whether the email pops up in your Twitter account or personal account. h…

• @ruchowdh Rumman Chowdhury on x

  Has it already started? Happy layoff eve! https://twitter.com/...

• @sheonhan Sheon Han on x

  My employee login @Twitter vs. Lettuce Let's goooooooooo https://twitter.com/...

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  Employees in Twitter just got an email from their bosses saying layoffs are coming tomorrow. Those who are staying will get a note tomorrow in their work email. Those who are let go will get an email sent to their personal address. Slot machine-style layoffs.

• @sbkcrn @sbkcrn on x

  Looks like I'm unemployed y'all. Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack. #OneTeam forever. Loved you all so much. So sad it had to end this way 💔

• @rachbonn Rachel Bonn on x

  Last Thursday in the SF office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old. Just got cut off from laptop access #LoveWhereYouWorked 💙 https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @willoremus Will Oremus on x

  Since taking over a week ago, Musk has not even officially told his new staff that he is in charge. Or that he fired their CEO and other top leaders. Staff have to follow his tweets to learn about major changes in company direction. “We're all working for the Trump White House.” …

• @kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x

  Hearing that some of those who are being laid off from Twitter are pregnant. And they don't know what severance or insurance coverage they'll have moving forward. Just so much uncertainty right now on top of losing your job...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  According to the email went out to employees at 5:21P PT: everyone affected will receive an email by 9AM PST Friday. 😞 https://t.co/am0atONQeP

• @melcolmruffin @melcolmruffin on x

  Lol @jack real quiet

• @dickc Dick Costolo on x

  Our team at 01 Advisors put together this community a couple weeks ago to help the Twitter Alumni Network stay connected as a large number of folks work to figure out what's next. It's active and productive and has already been a great resource for people https://md15q1upti9.type…

• @yashagarwalm @yashagarwalm on x

  Just got laid off. Bird App, it was an absolute honour, the greatest privilege ever to be a part of this team, this culture 🫡💙 #LoveWhereYouWorked #LoveTwitter https://twitter.com/...

• @scottnover Scott Nover on x

  Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter was so outlandishly high that a.) Twitter's old board couldn't say no, b.) Musk himself couldn't afford it, and c.) it damned the entire company to significant debt and massive layoffs. Every part of this deal has been and continues to be stupid.

• @c7five Nick Percoco on x

  After what we learned about the lack of basic security hygiene at Twitter and the telegraphing that today was coming, I'm genuinely curious how @elonmusk is balancing the risk that multiple reverse shells haven't been planted by 1 of the 1000s outgoing Engineering team members.

• @nikkimcr Nikki Mccann Ramírez on x

  just so were all clear, Musk is firing half of Twitter's staff, including huge swaths of their content moderation capability, four days before opening up identity-confirmation-free verification to the whole website which will happen...the day before a national election.

• @chrisyounie Chris Younie on x

  Well this isn't looking promising. Can't log into emails. Mac wont turn on. But so grateful this is happening at 3am. Really appreciate the thoughtfulness on the timing front guys. Meanwhile to everyone else at Twitter, you're the best ❤️ #OneTeam https://twitter.com/...

• @joandeitchman Joan Deitchman on x

  Probably my last Twitter Slack message. The ML Ethics, Transparency, & Accountability team was one of a kind. Forever grateful that @ruchowdh took a chance on me and I got to be a small part of it. 🙏💙 #lovewhereyouworked https://twitter.com/...

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  Cosmically stupid or historically malicious? It's the unanswered, constantly repeating question of our time.

• @thisisme0311 Linda on x

  @oneunderscore__ https://twitter.com/...

• @tech_actions @tech_actions on x

  Last night, friends from the birdapp reached out to us, asking us to publish a layoff guide for their coworkers. It is written thoughtfully and with great care. If you work at the company, we encourage you to take a look. https://collectiveaction.tech/ ...

• @joandeitchman Joan Deitchman on x

  🫡 Yep, the team is gone. The team that was researching and pushing for algorithmic transparency and algorithmic choice. The team that was studying algorithmic amplification. The team that was inventing and building ethical AI tooling and methodologies. All that is gone.

• @maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x

  It appears Elon Musk has fired the director of software engineering at Twitter who, with a team of researchers, found “Tweets posted by accounts from the political right receive more algorithmic amplification than the political left.” 🤔 https://blog.twitter.com/... https://twitte…

• @emilyettel Emily Katleman on x

  9 years and 1 week. It's been a ride. Forever grateful for the friendships and life lessons learned along the way. Once a Tweep, forever a Tweep. #lovewhereyouworked https://twitter.com/...

• @carnage4life @carnage4life on x

  If the rumors are true that this will affect 50% of the company, I can't see how this isn't disruptive to the site since there's no way they could have figured out all the essential versus inessential people in a week.

• @scottnover Scott Nover on x

  Half of the company is being laid off tomorrow because Musk wanted to round up his offer to a weed joke number and then signed a binding contract with a specific performance clause like a clown and gave the board no choice but accept the deal and then sue to enforce.

• @kayvz Kayvon Beykpour on x

  💙 to all the tweeps impacted by the changes tomorrow. thank you for pouring your heart and soul into Twitter 🫡

• @elibelly @elibelly on x

  tweeps this week when people ask “how are you doing” https://twitter.com/...

• @ackocher Austin Kocher, PhD on x

  Sounds like @twitter layoffs are rolling out already and anyone let go is having their access to everything pulled before they are personally informed. Might not be unusual (I don't know) but feels painful for people who invested their careers in the company. https://twitter.com/…

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  Talking to a couple of Twitter employees just now who learned they don't work there anymore when their email stopped working. I have never talked to people more excited to get laid off in my entire life.

• @chrisjbakke Chris Bakke on x

  The layoff email from Twitter is the first email in history that should have been a meeting.

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Former Twitter CEO ⬇️⬇️⬇️ (meanwhile, still not a public peep from @jack, who hired so many of the people now being fired... and who rolled over his shares into the new entity) https://twitter.com/...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  Also worth noting: the email that just went out to every Twitter employee is unsigned. Whatever is about to happen, Elon is not putting his name on it.

• @damienviel Damien Viel on x

  💙 all my thoughts, respect, energy and love to all tweeps around the world today. We have built together the most incredible app on the planet. Let's be proud of everything we have done and how have done it 🙏🏻 #lovewhereyouwork

• @lu_shennan @lu_shennan on x

  My Twitter journey has come to an end, I got laid off while I'm 6-month pregnant. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you. I'm very thankful to lead such a n amazing DS team, it's been a fun ride. 🫡 #LoveWhereYouWorked

• @jaseemabid @jaseemabid on x

  Woke up to no slack/gmail/office access and laptop remotely wiped out. Got fired without even a confirmation email while sleeping? There is always a new low. #twitter

• @jasonschreier Jason Schreier on x

  Haha epic memeing one thousand internet points for you sir https://twitter.com/...

• @antonschulz Anton Schulz on x

  I'm one of the thousands of amazingly talented and incredibly gifted Tweeps that were just laid off from @Twitter! More thoughts and feelings to follow once I've had a few drinks and a good night of sleep! (Also, we found out by getting locked our from our laptops.) https://twitt…

• @byronyork Byron York on x

  In the end, will be interesting to see how much bigger Musk Twitter layoffs will be than layoffs already planned before he took over. From WP: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...

• @_sidverma Sid Verma on x

  So an aggressive corporate buyout at a market high that saddled the target company with a huge annual debt burden is leading to mass layoffs?

• @jenplusplus @jenplusplus on x

  Is there a word for when the vibe is “oh no I survived?” #TwitterLayoffs

• @lizzadwoskin Elizabeth Dwoskin on x

  Twitter's internal slack right now is one long stream of blue one team hearts - the symbol of goodbye

• @skamille Camille Fournier on x

  This Twitter situation is grim. I don't say such platitudes lightly, my heart really goes out to you all working there through this. I have loved this product and it's a shame to see it so quickly run into the ground.

• @oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x

  It's striking that @jack hasn't tweeted anything about what's going on, even if to offer platitudes to former colleagues.

• @jensantamaria Jen Santamaria on x

  💙 After 6 incredible years, yesterday was my last day at Twitter. It's *really* not how I expected to go out but also, I never really expected to leave.

• @mbfhunzaker Mary Beth Hunzaker on x

  Well friends, I am out as well. ✌️ I will miss my Birdwatch, health, and research teammates so much 💔 But honestly it's an immense relief. 😌

• @leakissner Lea Kissner on x

  I am so fiercely proud of the privacy, security, and IT teams at Twitter. I've seen you do great work and get really good at getting that great work done in the face of enormous challenges. No matter what happens I've been so lucky. Thank you. Just like always, I'm here for you.

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  In Slack, dozens of employees are posting the 🫡 emoji as a possible farewell. Anticipating the loss of half their colleagues, some have begun calling Friday “The Snap” and posting Thanos memes.

• @wiczipedia @wiczipedia on x

  As much as I've criticized Twitter and demanded better from the company, I have long admired the professionals among its ranks. They don't deserve the hand they've been dealt, and this place is going to be much worse off for their unceremonious layoffs.

• @jarredt Jarred Taylor on x

  what a fucking coward. happy to shitpost but too afraid to address employees or even sign the RIF announcement email. own it, asshole. from one ex-tweep to the new ones: y'all deserve better and my 💙 is with you. let me know how I can help. #OneTeam #lovewhereyouworked

• @lu_shennan @lu_shennan on x

  There is definitely discrimination here. So I will fight. My performance has been tracking ahead (top 30%) for the last quarters, and I know for a fact that other male managers don't have this rating got stayed. See you in the court

• @okwonga Musa Okwonga on x

  Of course, that's exactly why he's doing it. The grim thing, in a wideer context: am just thinking of all the authoritarian regimes around the world, who are now licking their lips at the chance to spread fresh disinformation. https://twitter.com/...

• @darth @darth on x

  why not treat your employees with just simple common decency

• @cbouzy Christopher Bouzy on x

  Why the hell would he fire half of the employees at Twitter days before an election, knowing that mis/disinformation will be rampant?

• @rsa @rsa on x

  really soul crushing to watch this all unfold. twitter deserved better

• @zoeschiffer Zoë Schiffer on x

  One Twitter employee called out leadership for the ongoing lack of communication. “You could have done better than a vacuum followed by an email signed ‘from Twitter’” they wrote in Slack, adding “news articles aren't comms.”

• @zoeschiffer Zoë Schiffer on x

  Twitter is offering employees who've been laid off one month of severance, according to documents I've seen. It'll be taxed as if it were a bonus.

• @zoeschiffer Zoë Schiffer on x

  Twitter employees just got an email saying layoffs are coming tomorrow. “By 9AM PST tomorrow, everyone will receive an individual email with the subject line: Your Role at Twitter.” 1/

• @sillyrobin @sillyrobin on x

  Just to be clear, he fired the team working on this. https://twitter.com/...

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  Some employees I'm hearing from at Twitter are desperate to get laid off and get severance. The work culture there is beyond toxic. Some are afraid to push back against Elon because they don't want to risk getting fired for cause — disagreeing with Elon — and losing severance.

• @jamesrbuk James Ball on x

  About as clinical a way to be laid off as is possible. Twitter staff have had a tough time of it: it's a hard network to run and they've been tackling genuinely difficult problems, often while being let down by their top management. https://twitter.com/...

• @wbm312 Whitney Merrill on x

  How inhumane. They started cutting off access 12 hours before they said they'd notify employees. Hugs to the folks at Twitter 💙 https://twitter.com/...

• @martinsfp @martinsfp on x

  UK Twitter staff being laid off seemingly don't need to wait for an email at 9am ET, they've already been disconnected from company email and Slack. I smell a lawsuit brewing.

• @ianbetteridge @ianbetteridge on x

  For any Twitter employees in the UK under threat of redundancy: you want to read this. You have rights. https://www.gov.uk/...

• @enzetest @enzetest on x

  Lost my email and slack 🫡

• @ruchowdh Rumman Chowdhury on x

  Imagine feeling relief that you're the one on the receiving end of the thanos snap 🫰

• @hunterwalk @hunterwalk on x

  which former Twitter CEO will be the first to offer a tweet of empathy to the folks being let go the field is wide open so far!

• @joannag @joannag on x

  What a wild ride. Thank you to tweeps past and present who made my time at Twitter so special. And the biggest thank you to Curation - it is a damn privilege to have led such an incredible team of rockstars. 🫡💙 https://twitter.com/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  So, yup. Looks like the new boss at Twitter can't even do layoffs in a remotely humane way. https://twitter.com/...

• @hayskali Kali Hays on x

  Twitter workers asked to leave offices immediately, with no date for when they will be allowed back as Musk preps for layoffs tomorrow. Security going floor by floor to make sure workers are not staying the night — unless on an ‘Elon critical’ project... https://www.businessinsid…

• @alex_abads Alex on x

  everyone will get an e-mail by 9am PST but if you don't get an email in 8 hours please e-mail us back wtf lmao https://twitter.com/...

• @kiraoconnor @kiraoconnor on x

  Twitter was the most special place to work. My best friends and some of my best experiences were because of Twitter. What happened is brutal and probably says something about society that an egomaniac can just buy such a powerful platform. Love you, Tweeps. #LoveWhereYouWorked

• @ericajoy Erica Joy on x

  this is so foul. they couldn't even wait until the 9am email to start locking people out. https://twitter.com/...

• @ciplukcarlita @ciplukcarlita on x

  So, this is it. It's been an incredible (almost) 7,5 years ride w/ all the learning curves. I've had the pleasure of working with great Tweeps across the globe who have made me better each day. 🙌 to everyone I can't even mention in just a Tweet thread. #LoveWhoYouWorkedWith

• @fmanjoo Farhad Manjoo on x

  1) love how the email is from “Twitter” 2) a more honest message would be “this action is unfortunately necessary because we now have to pay for debt servicing instead of workers” https://twitter.com/...

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  Heard from six Twitter folks who were laid off so far. All really sharp and talented. Zero suck ups. I get there need to be some layoffs right now across tech. But so it goes here in part because someone had to overpay egregiously. https://twitter.com/...

• @harryh @harryh on x

  Real leaders sign important emails with their name on the bottom. Saw some folks do that today and other folks.....not.

• @bborrman Brandon on x

  Couldn't even let people try to sleep tonight. https://twitter.com/...

• @ruchowdh Rumman Chowdhury on x

  I'm so glad joan shared this because it needs to be out in the world ❤️ https://twitter.com/...

• @tomwarren Tom Warren on x

  “Musk is expected to cut roughly half of Twitter's workforce one week after buying the company for $44 billion.” Absolutely dire cuts that will forever impact Twitter and its culture. Twitter only has impact because of the people that build or use it, inside and out https://twitt…

• @rmac18 Ryan Mac on x

  Some Twitter updates: Both people being laid off and those retained have started to get emails from the company. Lay off emails seem to vary by region based on versions I've seen, but some people are being kept on payroll for 2 or 3 months past today. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @tweetsbyparker @tweetsbyparker on x

  by the way - layoffs aren't funny. but twitter is. twitter is raw. twitter is reactionary. twitter is first. twitter is real. this is the twitter that we built. i'm sorry or you're welcome.

• @mattblaze Matt Blaze on x

  So apparently everyone (whether part of the layoff or not) is physically locked out of all Twitter facilities (through tomorrow?) What happens if there's an operational emergency right now, like a fire or massive data center failure?

• @jon_christian Jon Christian on x

  Imagine living in a Mars colony with this management style

• @lizzadwoskin Elizabeth Dwoskin on x

  I've been covering this space, & Twitter, for nearly a decade. Twitter employees have their flaws. But to fire so many at once with no notice, no info about severance, no clear rationale, not even a word to people— there's just such a calibrated coldness about that

• @billmckibben Bill McKibben on x

  I guess we better hope self-driving Twitter works better than self-driving Teslas https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x

  Elon Musk's legal team learning that he plans to do a mass layoff at Twitter without the 60 day notice required by CA's “WARN” law. https://twitter.com/...

• @goldman Jason Goldman on x

  I guess this is all part of the singular solution. https://twitter.com/...

• @adamgreattweet Adam on x

  I was fired from Twitter this morning. I was responsible for the timeline refreshing the second you saw a good tweet

• @mallorymhughes @mallorymhughes on x

  It's been real, Tweeps 💙✌️

• @kiransudhir7 Kiran Sudhir on x

  heartbreaking to see a workplace I loved so much being torn apart in such a way. best place I've worked at, best folks I've worked with. my heart is with all my fellow tweeps. the ones that are leaving with me, and the ones who have to stay to witness the aftermath. 🫡 #OneTeam

• @jsrailton John Scott-Railton on x

  Fear chills innovation. This leadership style will discourage Twitter's remaining workforce from taking risks & speaking their minds. https://twitter.com/...

• @nbreitbach Natalie on x

  💙 to everyone at Twitter. It was a special place to work for 6 years, and where I met some of my closest friends. I'm hiring multiple roles in product marketing & partnership marketing for my team at Dropbox (and happy to refer in other areas); pls DM if I can help. #OneTeam

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Reminder: There is no good way to fire thousands of people, particularly in the remote work era. There are some particularly callous ways, and some more generous ways (see Stripe today), but in general it's a horrible experience for all involved — no matter the intentions.

• @jowens510 Jeremy C. Owens on x

  Have now heard from two Twitter employees that Chief Accounting Officer Robert Kaiden got the boot yesterday, but managed to push through employees' RSUs before being walked out. $TWTR workers should get their Elon $$ bags tomorrow, regardless of whether they still have jobs.

• @pandemona Sara Beykpour on x

  my heart goes out to all the tweeps tonight. if you are a tweep or ever were a tweep, there's something that will always bind us together. godspeed on the next adventure, wherever it may lead you. 💙🫡

• @lisabloom Lisa Bloom on x

  Hey Twitter employees getting laid off tomorrow! IMPORTANT INFO from a CA employment attorney (me): CA's “WARN” law requires Twitter to give you 60 days notice of a massive layoff. A layoff of 50+ employees within a 30 day period qualifies. I know you didn't get that notice.

• @lmanul @lmanul on x

  Was not planning on doing anything like this initially... But... Look Ma I'm suing Twitter. https://twitter.com/...

• @josheidelson Josh Eidelson on x

  Scoop: Twitter was just sued in a proposed class action for conducting a mass layoff without the required 60 day notice https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @nickstatt Nick Statt on x

  The former Twitter employee who filed the proposed class action lawsuit for violations of California's WARN Act personally delivered this incredible cartoon to Elon. https://twitter.com/...

• @docischief Eddie Munchster on x

  Twitter in a nutshell https://twitter.com/...

• @jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x

  so if Elon is fined $500/day x 60 days x 3500 employees, that's $105M he's liable for backpay under both CA &US law; at $120K salary = $140M now advertisers are fleeing; they drove 90% of TW's $5B annual revenue if all ~400K verified users paid $8/mo... that's only $38M/yr 🤔 http…

• @elizabeth_joh Elizabeth Joh on x

  Twitter lawsuit filed: “The lawsuit asks the court to issue an order requiring Twitter to obey the WARN Act, and restricting the company from soliciting employees to sign documents that could give up their right to participate in litigation” https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @owillis Oliver Willis on x

  I'm not particularly fond of Twitter the company but the dumb billionaire has sure made me more sympathetic to their employees as he performatively fires them for right wing praise

• @alexhern @alexhern on x

  It's going to be quite interesting watching Musk's management style interact with non-American employment laws. I remember when Buzzfeed tried to close its French office and a judge just said “no, actually” https://digiday.com/...

• @tomcoates Tom Coates on x

  This was quick. Spread the word to Twitter employees if you can. Not sure 100% what it means, but it may stall the current proceedings. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @lisabloom Lisa Bloom on x

  Employees laid off in violation of the WARN Act receive back pay at the employee's final rate or 3 year average of compensation, whichever is higher. Twitter would also be liable for workers' medical expenses that would have been covered under an employee benefit plan.

• @evan_gocats Evan L on x

  This seems frivolous. Mass layoffs in WARN states occur without notice regularly. They just keep you on the payroll and pay you not to work for however long they're required. I feel horrendous for the employees. Getting laid off is among the worst things to ever go through https:…

• @drmistercody Cody Johnston on x

  Remembering a short time ago when Elon said that he was voting Republican because the Democrats are the party of unions and class action lawyers, whereas Republicans are the party of corporate evil and religious zealotry. https://twitter.com/...

• @amasna @amasna on x

  Exactly what @lisabloom just said. Wonder if Musk and his circle realized this before pulling the trigger or they just don't care and will find a shitty workaround like he tends to do. https://twitter.com/...

• @bizballmaury Maury Brown on x

  I'm sure @elonmusk is aware of this. It will cost him a small fortune which is not much to him. He's really in “I don't give a <expletive>” mode. The law in CA was designed to prevent catastrophic actions that he's about to do. Very important thread 👇🏻 https://twitter.com/...

• @davetroy Dave Troy on x

  Going from “ongoing business concern” to “global information warfare apparatus” is going to necessarily be a rocky transition. Don't want pesky employees getting in the way of “the event.” https://twitter.com/...

• @rmac18 @rmac18 on x

  I believe keeping laid off folks on payroll for 2-3 months past today will potentially alleviate some concerns from Musk/Twitter's side regarding the WARN Act, but we'll see what happens as people get more details in the coming days. As with all things Musk, anything can happen.

• @muellershewrote @muellershewrote on x

  Clear violation of the WARN act. https://twitter.com/...

• @josheidelson Josh Eidelson on x

  “We will now see if he is going to continue to thumb his nose at the laws of this country that protect employees,” the plaintiffs' lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan says of @ElonMusk. “It appears that he's repeating the same playbook of what he did at Tesla.” https://www.bloomberg.com/…

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  As expected @LisaBloom has entered the room. (WARN is a thing, for those who will try to say it is not — have covered this layoff aspect before many times and it can get thorny fast for companies) https://twitter.com/...