Sources: Twitter teams hit hardest by the layoffs span communications, tweet curation, ethical AI, data science, research, ML, and some core engineering teams

spreading a lie that it was ‘Russian disinfo’, and thus materially interfering in a US Presidential election — have been removed. https://twitter.com/... Ryan Shattuck / @ryanmer : I can't get over how insane this all is https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... A.J. Perez / @byajperez : Subscriptions after giving everything away for free. Mass layoffs. Advertisers becoming apprehensive. Twitter turned into Gannett in a few days. https://twitter.com/... Alex Heath / @alexeheath : 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 Christopher Bouzy / @cbouzy : Why the hell would he fire half of the employees at Twitter days before an election, knowing that mis/disinformation will be rampant? Lisa Bloom / @lisabloom : 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://twitter.com/... Scott Nover / @scottnover : 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/... Josh Elman / @joshelman : The thread in which Tony compares working at Twitter to working in government, and at this stage he's right! https://twitter.com/... @om : 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://t.co/59Y51x2qWR Eddie Munchster / @docischief : Twitter in a nutshell https://twitter.com/...

The Verge 2022-11-05

Context & Ripple Effects

Twitter's workforce responsible for conversation health had already been reduced from 15 full-time staff to two during the acquisition period, according to earlier coverage of the shrunken health team. The reported layoffs extend the cuts across the functions that communicate decisions, curate content, and build or analyze the platform.

Later reports of additional engineer firings and vendor-payment reviews show the initial layoffs were part of a broader cost-cutting campaign, rather than an isolated restructuring.

First-order effects

Twitter loses staff across communications, curation, ethical AI, data science, research, machine learning, and core engineering, concentrating operational responsibility among the employees who remain.
The teams responsible for civil-conversation work and content curation face further pressure after the earlier reduction of Twitter's health staff.

Second-order effects

Twitter's subsequent engineering dismissals indicate that technical teams were not protected from the first round of cuts, making staffing continuity a constraint for the platform's remaining engineering and ML work.
The parallel review and renegotiation of vendor deals shifts Twitter's cost-cutting burden beyond payroll to outside suppliers.

Third-order effects

If cuts continue across trust, research, and engineering functions, Twitter's operating model shifts from specialized internal teams toward a smaller organization asked to run both platform operations and product development.
The pattern links workforce reductions, supplier pressure, and later limited severance terms, making labor-cost flexibility a central feature of Twitter's post-takeover restructuring.

The trend: Twitter's post-takeover restructuring is consolidating platform operations around a far smaller workforce while reducing commitments to internal specialists and external vendors.

Discussion

@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:/…

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