Sources describe Twitter after mass layoffs: key teams gutted, severance packages account for WARN Act, ad hoc directories of remaining workers in Google Docs

I. The Snap — The email went out at 5:21 PT PT on Thursday. — For a full week, Twitter employees had waited in hopes …

Platformer 2022-11-05

Discussion

@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
I think @davekarpf is correct here, about how all of this *could* have gone much better: https://davekarpf.substack.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
“they had been struck by the cruelty: of ordering people to work around the clock for a week, never speaking to them, then firing them in the middle of the night, no matter what it might mean for an employee's pregnancy or work visa or emotional state” https://www.platformer.news…
@davidfrum David Frum on x
They are going to be teaching this completely self-inflicted fiasco in business schools for the next 100 years
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
If you have imposter syndrome, just know that someone took out the largest personal loan in history to buy a failing social media platform during a recession. Go do what it is you want to do.
@mattnegrin @mattnegrin on x
Elon Musk is 72 hours away from going on Joe Rogan's podcast to defend antisemitism as essential free speech while Rogan googles antisemitism and reads the wikipedia page for it and says “some of this is interesting stuff”
@alex_segura @alex_segura on x
“The layoffs gutted entire teams, including ... the communications team, which — according to one estimate — went from roughly 80 people down to two, and the entire human rights organization.” Twitter, cut in half, by @CaseyNewton https://open.substack.com/...
@americanwombat Christina Holland on x
This is nuts. Even just from an operational standpoint how is anyone going to get anything done if they can't easily find out which people they were doing it with are still there https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@iwriteok Robert Evans on x
long run I'm sure this will all end in tears but right now twitter the funniest it's been since trump got raided by the FBI
@mobute @mobute on x
buying twitter really is the apotheosis of “every guest at my childhood birthday parties was rented by my dad”
@nycsouthpaw @nycsouthpaw on x
“some of the employees who had been cut ... told us that they had been struck by the cruelty: of ordering people to work around the clock for a week, never speaking to them, then firing them in the middle of the night” https://www.platformer.news/ ...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
“It was grim. It was also, in any number of ways, pointless: there had been no reason to do any of this, to do it this way, to trample so carelessly over the lives and livelihoods of so many people.” by ⁦@CaseyNewton⁩ & ⁦@ZoeSchiffer⁩ https://www.platformer.news/ ...
@lpackard Laura Packard on x
@elonmusk You just gutted the internet technology team (which keeps Twitter up and running). How do you intend to keep the lights on, keep Twitter from fail whaling? https://www.platformer.news/ ...
@astrokatie Katie Mack on x
I really had no idea he could break this so badly, so quickly! 🤯
Washington Post Pranshu Verma on mastodon
They traded Twitter for Mastodon Social. Now what?
@mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x
“As messy as Twitter was pre-Elon, it is a veritable clowntown of politics and toadyism and psychological abuse now” - Kushal Dave, Director of engineering, Twitter https://www.ft.com/...
@shannonrsingh Shannon Raj Singh on x
Yesterday was my last day at Twitter: the entire Human Rights team has been cut from the company. I am enormously proud of the work we did to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, to protect those at-risk in global conflicts & crises including Ethiopia,
@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.
@contextfall @contextfall on x
I'm noticing a trend. https://twitter.com/...
@gerardkcohen Gerard K. Cohen on x
I am officially no longer the Engineering Manager for the Accessibility Experience Team at Twitter. I have words. 🧵
@arctictony Tony Haile on x
I'm also consciously uncoupled from Twitter. It's a weird day, people on either side of the 50% aren't sure whether to be grateful or gutted. What I know is how honored I am to have spent time with wonderful people who show an unprecedented level of care for each other.
@donmoyn Don Moynihan on x
Musk fired the twitter teams dealing with human rights and facilitating disability access. https://twitter.com/...
@gerardkcohen Gerard K. Cohen on x
So, the Accessibility Experience Team at Twitter is no longer. We had so much more to do, but we worked hard! There aren't very many people that have had the opportunity to make such an important global platform like Twitter accessible, but we understood the mission.
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
Inside Elon Musk's “free speech” Twitter, a culture of secrecy and fear has taken hold. Managers and employees have been muzzled, Slack channels have gone dark, and workers are turning to anonymous gossip apps to find out basic info about their jobs. https://t.co/Mn21Ko9CqM
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
“He thinks the bots won't pay money, so anyone without a blue mark will be a bot, in his logic,” a Twitter employee who is still at the company told me. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@kldivergence Kristian Lum on x
@geomblog Truly. It's not just me. The entire META team minus one was let go. so much for responsible ML at twitter.
@_micheleaustin Michele Austin on x
Woke up to the news that my time working at Twitter has come to an end. 💙 I am heartbroken. I am in denial. It's been the best, craziest, most rewarding ride of my career. I have loved every single minute of it. A short thread, if you will indulge me: #LoveWhereYouWork
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
per a @twitter engineer, due to Elon's insane deadlines, they've just stopped doing the part of a product launch where they weigh potential harms. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@nytimes @nytimes on x
“All of the people I know who are here on visas have no idea what will happen to them.” A Twitter employee describes the confusion and chaos at the company after Elon Musk took over. Listen here: https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ketanj0 Ketan Joshi on x
Australian Twitter staff locked out of their systems overnight. Zero doubt that this is a pretty severe breach of Australian labor laws - you can't retrench someone without a clear and consistent process before doing so. Add this to the lawsuit pile. https://www.abc.net.au/...
@nytimes @nytimes on x
The layoffs at Twitter have been so haphazard that at least one worker was locked out of company systems during a late-night meeting about Twitter Blue. The communications team, which was almost entirely laid off, did not respond to a request for comment. https://www.nytimes.com/…
@rnoweber Arnaud Weber on x
After 3 years, my time at Twitter ended. I wanted to thank every Tweeps for making this experience amazing and memorable. Twitter still has a lot of unlocked potential but I'm proud of what we accomplished. Please DM me if I can be of any assistance. #LoveWhereYouWorked
@indiecwilson India Wilson on x
Tweeps, we should be extremely proud that we created a culture that is so devastatingly hard to leave. It was truly something special. Good thing we're fam for life 💛 #OneTeam #LoveWhereYouWorked
@elainef Elaine Filadelfo on x
End of an era. This is a brutal way to go after 10 years, but Twitter isn't defined by last night. It's defined by the culture *we* made, the lifelong friendships, how we supported each other, the damn good work we did along the way. You're my people forever #LoveWhereYouWorked
@antonschulz Anton Schulz on x
I'm crying. Not because I lost my job. But because of the love and support between all the Tweeps right now! Truly feel so fortunate to have had the chance to experience something so magnificent and special. #LoveWhereYouWorked
@jaymefr Jayme FR on x
🫡💙 I couldn't have asked for a better 8+ years (tho could've skipped the last week). #lovewhereyouworked
@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
If you're a Twitter (or any) employee subject to mass layoffs, New York has a WARNS law too. NY WARNS requires 90 days notice for mass layoffs from large employers. Employers who violate may be required to back pay your wages and benefits: https://dol.ny.gov/... https://twitter.c…
@nslwin Ro Nay San Lwin on x
“Shit is gonna start breaking,” said Twitter's one current employee who requested anonymity to speak without the company's permission, while another called management's layoff process “an absolute shit show.” https://www.theverge.com/...
@b52malmet Barbara Malmet on x
On purpose before the midterm election. https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
“Nothing has changed.” https://twitter.com/...
@habengirma Haben Girma on x
This is sad news, especially for blind and disabled people who depend on the accessibility of Twitter to connect with the world and build communities. Huge thank you to Gerard's team for all their work over the years! https://twitter.com/...
@bendreyfuss Ben Dreyfuss on x
One month severance isn't very good! Even I got more than that and I worked at a nonprofit magazine that had to rub a magic lamp every few months to keep the lights on. https://twitter.com/...
@kateconger Kate Conger on x
Inside the chaos and confusion of Twitter's layoffs w/ @RMac18 @MikeIsaac https://www.nytimes.com/...
@bgrueskin Bill Grueskin on x
.@arctictony created Chartbeat, created Scroll (which became a core element of Twitter Blue), and now will create something else that will improve our online lives. Plus, as I found from our @Stanford class, he's a terrific teacher. Twitter is a much poorer place for his exit. ht…
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
This is the team who had worked to get what Musk wanted done by Nov. 7 or else face firing. The product manager shared a photo of herself at the office in a sleeping bag.
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
It's probably easier to ask what teams are left instead of asking which ones were laid off. Christ! https://twitter.com/...
@arctictony Tony Haile on x
I've learned that Twitter is more like a government body than a tech co. Bureaucratic, driven by external events, massive conflicts with health, ancient legacy systems where only one person knows how it works & every two yrs a new administration comes in & changes all the goals.
@redsteeze Stephen L. Miller on x
It's pretty obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes what they are trying to do here https://twitter.com/...
@marklittlenews Mark Little on x
These are some of the internet's most essential workers, combatting hidden manipulation and bias. These choices will have global impact. https://twitter.com/...
@markjeffrey Mark Jeffrey on x
Translation: The same people who suppressed the true Hunter Biden laptop story during the last election — spreading a lie that it was ‘Russian disinfo’, and thus materially interfering in a US Presidential election — have been removed. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
To illustrate the chaos: some employees working on Twitter Blue, Musk's revamped subscription service, were asked to join a video call as colleagues were being laid off last night. During that call, one person lost access, presumably because they were cut. https://t.co/za9DZtjFOY…
@maxblumenthal Max Blumenthal on x
The entire color revolution team has been cut, US regime change operations everywhere have lost an important asset https://twitter.com/...
@mtracey Michael Tracey on x
Why the f*ck did Twitter have a “Human Rights team” in the first place https://twitter.com/...
@edzitron Ed Zitron on x
Twitter is creating a PvP posting environment with absolutely no skill-based matchmaking. https://twitter.com/...
@jonbernhardt Nathan Bernhardt on x
very glad that we're at least coming to an understanding on what “bot” has meant in internet parlance since like, march 2017, which is “person i don't have to treat as human.” wasn't elon who started using it like that, though. https://twitter.com/...
@ryanmer Ryan Shattuck on x
I can't get over how insane this all is https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@evacide Eva on x
Cutting the entire Human Rights team tells me a lot about Twitter's commitment to human rights, including free speech in authoritarian countries and conflict zones, going forward. https://twitter.com/...
@maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x
As just one example: for less than $500, a pump-and-dump scammer could create a whole network of “verified” fake financial journalists, investment bankers, and SEC officials. But Elon thinks no one will? Who at Twitter would even notice or handle it? He just fired all of them. ht…
@byajperez A.J. Perez on x
Subscriptions after giving everything away for free. Mass layoffs. Advertisers becoming apprehensive. Twitter turned into Gannett in a few days. https://twitter.com/...
@meghann Meg Marco on x
Head of Twitter Blue (the subscription product that Musk wants to expand to include paying for verification) is now gone from Twitter. Interesting choices being made over there. Illuminating thread. https://twitter.com/...
@ronbrownstein Ronald Brownstein on x
Feature or bug for Musk? “Devastating cuts to Twitter's workforce on Friday, 4 days before the midterm elections, are fueling anxieties among political campaigns and election offices that have counted on the social network's staff to help them combat violent threats & viral lies”…
@jsrailton John Scott-Railton on x
Musk fired Twitter's entire Human Rights Team. Writing is on the wall about where things are headed. https://twitter.com/...
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
NEW from me + @BrandyZadrozny + @JasonAbbruzzese + @David_Ingram: Twitter decimated the teams primarily responsible for keeping it free of election misinformation, potentially hobbling the company's capabilities four days before Tuesday's election. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@normative Julian Sanchez on x
Move fast and break things! <beholds broken things> Was there supposed to be a third step? https://twitter.com/...
@ggreeneva Greg Greene on x
“Tony Haile, a senior director ... overseeing Twitter's work with news publishers, [has] also been laid off following Musk's firings of Twitter's senior leadership,” the article continues. Ugh. Yet Musk pretends to care about working with news companies to bypass paywalls. https:…
@hugovk Hugo on x
@tomcoates The entire Accessibility Experience team fired too https://twitter.com/...
@nytimes @nytimes on x
“We cross our fingers and hope to make it through another day.” Twitter hasn't spoken publicly since Elon Musk bought the company a week ago. But inside, employees describe a mood of fear, chaos, stress and bizarre requests. Listen here: https://www.nytimes.com/...
@nytimes @nytimes on x
“It's complete chaos. Some people are panicking. Some people are helping each other. Some people are throwing other people around them under the bus.” Two Twitter employees describe the atmosphere at the company since Elon Musk took over. Listen here: https://www.nytimes.com/...
@niggi Stefan Niggemeier on x
„Sandra Sucher, a professor of management at Harvard University who has studied layoffs for more than a decade, said Twitter's cuts were among the most poorly handled that she had seen." https://www.nytimes.com/...
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
One laid-off Twitter employee told NBC News that “the only saving grace [for Musk making dramatic changes before Tuesday's election] is that he changes his mind on things all the time.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Elon Musk's mass Twitter layoff today has left whole areas of the company completely gutted, including teams tasked with defending the platform from manipulation ahead of the midterms next week https://t.co/3zTr8JJ09e
@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?
@lisabloom Lisa Bloom on x
Fired Twitter workers! Under the acquisition deal, Elon promised you'd get the same severance $ and benefits that laid off workers got before he arrived. How much did they get? Anyone have this info for me? Talking to many laid off Tweeps today. SEC filing: #TwitterLayoffs https:…
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
Right. I noted Musk's hypocrisy around speech back in early April if anyone wants a trip back to the past. https://qz.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@joshelman Josh Elman on x
The thread in which Tony compares working at Twitter to working in government, and at this stage he's right! https://twitter.com/...
@om @om on x
Of all the stuff that is happening at Twitter, this axing is perhaps what I call is the most “moronic.” For once there was someone with a clue, for monetization, for product, and who was nimble. What a colossal loss. Tony, hit me up when you are ready for another startup! https:/…
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Regarding Twitter's reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.
@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 💔
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
It sounds like Twitter's PR/comms team — which was maybe ~80-100 people — is down to just two people after layoffs today....
@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…
@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/...
@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.
@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/...
@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/...
@sheonhan Sheon Han on x
My employee login @Twitter vs. Lettuce Let's goooooooooo https://twitter.com/...
@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/...
@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...
@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.
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
The entire “Ethics, Transparency, & Accountability” team at Twitter is gone, if you want a sense for where the site is headed. https://twitter.com/...
@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…
@rdassaly Richie Assaly on x
Looks like Elon Musk fired the entire curation team. These were the folks who tackled misinfo, contextualized conversations via the ‘Explore’ page, and helped make Twitter an unmatched source for breaking news. This will make Twitter noisier, more dangerous & less interesting
@kateconger Kate Conger on x
Twitter has finally filed a WARN notice for mass layoffs 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.
@mattdpearce @mattdpearce on x
Twitter is the ad-dependent print newspaper bought out by private equity that now needs to service its debt, and the first order of business is to sell off the real estate, lay off staff, hike subscription costs and hope the core customer base doesn't notice everything is worse.
@monikabauerlein Monika Bauerlein on x
it's like you programmed a “make money in media” bot and at startup it rapid cycles through every tried and failed idea of the past 30 years https://twitter.com/...
@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.
@lizzadwoskin Elizabeth Dwoskin on x
Twitter's internal slack right now is one long stream of blue one team hearts - the symbol of goodbye
@sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x
Any leadership team not owning this admittedly very difficult decision and avoiding to take decent communication actions is simply cowardice. No excuses. The buck stops with the leaders in both good and bad times. There's a reason they are the leaders!
@biz Biz Stone on x
We were always “people first” at Twitter. The folks around us were funny, smart, creative, and kind. Thank you to all the Tweeps!
@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.
@jasonschreier Jason Schreier on x
Haha epic memeing one thousand internet points for you sir https://twitter.com/...
@melcolmruffin @melcolmruffin on x
Lol @jack real quiet
@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
@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.
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
Cosmically stupid or historically malicious? It's the unanswered, constantly repeating question of our time.
@hunterwalk @hunterwalk on x
ok, so the three largest US social platforms are now owned by Elon, China, and Zuck Mark hasn't looked this good since Jesse Eisenberg
@wiredbusiness @wiredbusiness on x
As part of a wave of layoffs, the new CEO disbanded a group working to make Twitter's algorithms more transparent and fair. https://www.wired.com/...
@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/...
@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.
@elibelly @elibelly on x
tweeps this week when people ask “how are you doing” https://twitter.com/...
@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.
@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…
@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/ ...
@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.
@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/...
@thisisme0311 Linda on x
@oneunderscore__ https://twitter.com/...
@katestarbird Kate Starbird on x
What a tragedy. This team was amazing... a brilliant team providing transparency and productive critique from inside Twitter. https://twitter.com/...
@lisabloom Lisa Bloom on x
Elon, I've read the emails sent to your laid off workers. Have you? I've also read your merger deal. Have you? More was required: bonuses, stock options, 60 days notice for starters. And the choice of laid off folks is disproportionately impacting POC. #TwitterLayoffs https://twi…
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Gutting the ads & data center management teams is also an interesting choice when you need to both grow revenue and figure out how to cut data center costs. This is playing the corporate turnaround game on hard mode. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Regarding Twitter's reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance.
@sarahjeong Sarah Jeong on x
howling at this live-documentation of a future cda 230 lawsuit https://twitter.com/...
@louisgray Louis Gray on x
Some men will spend $44 billion and fire 3,500 people just to avoid going to therapy.
@krave Kushal Dave on x
Honestly happy to be laid off but the veil of @elonmusk is pierced. As messy as Twitter was pre-elon, it is a veritable clowntown of politics and toadyism and psychological abuse now. Afraid to get in my Tesla with what I learned this week.
@gossithedog Kevin Beaumont on x
Sections of Twitter's cybersecurity team have been laid off, working to get numbers.
@pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings on x
Ultimately for Twitter to succeed or make money, the CEO needs to not be the news or constantly the main discussion on the platform. But also he is pathologically unable to stfu. So it'll continue to car crash for a while.
@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
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Three options, in ascending order of likelihood. 1/ Elon destroys Twitter. 2/ Elon makes Twitter much better and more successful. 3/ Elon basically treads water — albeit while kicking furiously — and sells Twitter to someone at a modest loss.
@mulegirl Erika Hall on x
Watching someone come in and destroy what so many people worked to build, for no apparent reason apart from pure ego, willing to incinerate their own fortune and reputation to do it, apparently. Just, wow.
@johncusack John Cusack on x
This is the plan chaos to serve gop - https://twitter.com/...
@qhardy Quentin Hardy on x
The American version of Squid Game lacks panache. https://twitter.com/...
@ruchowdh Rumman Chowdhury on x
Imagine feeling relief that you're the one on the receiving end of the thanos snap 🫰
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Peter Thiel at the Stanford “Academic Freedom Conference” just now is cracking jokes about Twitter saying that even after Elon reduced the company's workforce in half it's still not going to advance human society. He then repeats some old line about Twitter employees smoking pot.
@markmilian Mark Milian on x
The emails started arriving in Twitter employees' inboxes in the early morning hours: “Today is your last working day at the company” https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@chadloder Chad Loder on x
“A Twitter spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment; it is unclear whether Twitter continues to have a communications team.” 🫡 https://twitter.com/...
@tsimonite Tom Simonite on x
April: Elon Musk agrees to buy Twitter and says its algorithms will be open sourced Today: Elon Musk lays off Twitter's research team working on algorithmic transparency, which had found right-leaning accounts get an algorithmic boost https://www.wired.com/... via @willknight
@kevinbankston Kevin Bankston on x
Twitter just laid off its ML Ethics, Transparency, & Accountability team—a bunch of passionate, dedicated, and innovative expert advocates working to make tech better not just for Twitter's users but society at large. A real blow for the cause; they were doing trailblazing work. …
@mollyesque Molly Ball on x
I often think about what Elon Musk's brother told me about him, and I wonder if this quality is not ideal for a social-media CEO. https://time.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
as I told @nytimes, there's nothing visionary abt Elon summarily firing 3500 people w/expertise & institutional knowledge while he has no grasp of the biz. it's cruel & stupid, and will have stark consequences for the info ecosystem days before midterms. https://www.nytimes.com/.…
@adambain Adam Bain on x
Great resource for Twitter Alumni to help on jobs and figure out what's next https://twitter.com/...
@sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x
Layoffs happen. CEOs hate doing them. It is often the only option to survive in the short term. Having your immediate boss look you in the eye and share the news in the last 1:1 and have the CEO address the org and sign off on the company wide email makes them easier to navigate.
@sg Sean Garrett on x
Companies will spend many millions on their “employer brand” and never come close to the culture that @biz, @ev, and @goldman helped create from day one by being good humans that sought out other good humans. https://twitter.com/...
@greenhousenyt Steven Greenhouse on x
Musk's layoffs might have violated advanced notification laws “While federal & Calif laws require companies to provide advance notice of mass layoffs, it was unclear if Musk had done so Calif officials said they had received no such notice from Twitter https://www.nytimes.com/...…
@hcuccinello Hayley Cuccinello on x
Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at NYC conference for rich investors during Twitter mass layoffs He joked he tried to get out of the deal: “it was like that scene from The Godfather.” More here: https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
@kayvz Kayvon Beykpour on x
💙 to all the tweeps impacted by the changes tomorrow. thank you for pouring your heart and soul into Twitter 🫡
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
I did some back-of-the-napkin math and estimated how many Twitter employees' jobs could've been saved if Elon Musk didn't round up his buyout offer to $54.20 per share, a dumb weed joke price. What a depressing exercise. For @qz: https://qz.com/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
The new leadership is just so astoundingly, embarrassingly incompetent. I expected a mess, but this is way, way beyond what I expected. https://twitter.com/...
@tron @tron on x
One year ago, BetaKit profiled Twitter's Canadian office as a launch pad for new products & growing engineering hub. Today, the MD & director of public policy no longer work at @TwitterCanada. We're not sure yet how many others are gone. Tip @techmeme. https://betakit.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/…
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
This week on Hard Fork: Two Twitter employees speak about what it's like inside Elon's Twitter right now. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
👇🏼 Major layoffs right before a major election on a service that has tons of misinfo = not ideal https://twitter.com/...
@brandyzadrozny Brandy Zadrozny on x
Teams dedicated to making Twitter better for individual users and the world at large have been completely decimated. Some of these folks were doing such smart, creative work to better the experience, provide context, curation, transparency, safety, equality, etc. A bummer. https:…
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Twitter employee running Twitter Blue no longer at Twitter. Read on for his Liz Truss/Elon Musk analogy. https://twitter.com/...
@sg Sean Garrett on x
The lineage of remarkable @TwitterComms folks is strong. The folks who were working there yesterday would be first round draft picks at most any company. Happy to help @bborrman make connections and also connect the dots with fellow alums. (DMs open) https://twitter.com/...
@ashleymayer Ashley Mayer on x
The piece that will stay with me about the Twitter layoffs, beyond the overall chaos, is Elon not even putting his name on the company-wide communication.
@dsilverman Dwight Silverman on x
You know, if Twitter workers had unionized, this might be going very differently right now. Elon Musk begins mass layoffs at Twitter https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@jamesrbuk James Ball on x
Pretty sure a certain bird site owner kept talking about the need for algorithmic transparency but apparently: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ https://twitter.com/...
@sivavaid Siva Vaidhyanathan on x
I have criticized Twitter, especially @jack, for years. But the fact was that within the company dozens of employees worked tirelessly to make this experience better for all of us. They are all gone this morning. Twitter could have become much better. https://twitter.com/...
@timnitgebru @timnitgebru on x
When a billionaire's whim, just like that, erases what these women have worked on while fighting an uphill battle so that this platform is less of a dumpster fire. SMH. https://twitter.com/...
@gossithedog Kevin Beaumont on x
Keep seeing this - unfortunately I hear entire teams and functions have been ‘discontinued’ by Twitter. Sorry to Joan and everybody else caught up in this, it feels like dumbest timeline. 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.
@ewerickson Erick Erickson on x
Democrats prepare to claim voter suppression, etc. cost them the election. They'll blame Musk instead of Russia this time. https://twitter.com/...
@ndtex Ryan Ritter on x
You ever just sit back and laugh at this all starting because Elon's ex started fucking a trans woman and he was really mad he couldn't shitpost transphobic garbage? https://twitter.com/...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Good thing by @dickc https://twitter.com/...
@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/...
@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
@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…
@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/...

Chronicles

Sources describe Twitter after mass layoffs: key teams gutted, severance packages account for WARN Act, ad hoc directories of remaining workers in Google Docs

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