Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has revealed details on Twitter’s employees since taking over the microblogging service at the end of October. Musk immediately announced an austerity plan to make the platform profitable in return for a $44 billion cheque. This was critical since Musk had negotiated a $13 billion loan with annual interest payments of about $1.5 billion, which had been moved to the company’s financial sheet.
Twitter was also facing an exodus of advertisers who had elected to stop advertising their goods and services until Musk worked out the details of the content moderation policy he intended to adopt. The entrepreneur has always positioned himself as a “free speech absolutist,” which means he feels any tweet is permissible as long as it does not break the law. This laissez-faire strategy, according to many marketers, risks turning the platform into a “hellscape.”
The advertising flight had a severe financial effect on Twitter, with Musk claiming the firm was losing $4 million per day. In response, he announced an unusually huge staff reduction, eliminating half of the employment, or 3,750 people, in one day. A few days following the employment losses, the social network’s new owner instructed the remaining employees to work hard hours or quit.
“To construct a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and flourish in an increasingly competitive market, we will need to be tremendously dedicated in the future. This will include working long hours at a high level of intensity. Only outstanding achievement will result in a passing grade “On November 16, the billionaire wrote in an email to colleagues.
“If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below. Anyone who has not done so by 5 pm ET tomorrow will receive three months of severance.”
It’s unclear what the entrepreneur anticipated in reaction to this request. More than a thousand employees had opted to depart, causing overall turmoil and prompting Musk to temporarily shut down Twitter operations, including the headquarters in San Francisco.
Since then, there has been a haziness among the company’s staff. In contrast to a CNBC piece that claimed “internal data” and said that the firm had “about 1,300 active, working personnel, including less than 550 full-time engineers by title,” Musk has clarified that there are roughly 2,300 active, working workers at Twitter.
Twitter, which had 7,500 employees at the start of November, shed 5,200 in a little over two months. Furthermore, Musk used the chance to discuss the personnel assigned to safety, while civil rights organisations are worried that the dramatic drop in staff has undermined the platform’s content monitoring.
“There are still hundreds of employees working on trust & safety, along with several thousand contractors.”
Finally, the billionaire has responded to critics who claim he uses employees from his other firms, notably Tesla engineers, to work at Twitter.
“Less than 10 people from my other companies are working at Twitter,” Musk said.
Musk has also said that Twitter will hire this year, although he has not specified what talents or responsibilities the business intends to fill.
“Will Twitter be hiring in 2023?” he was asked.
“Yes,” said the Techno King, as he is called at Tesla.
He did not provide any other information, such as when the firm planned to begin employing.
Despite the initial disruption and uncertainty generated by the abrupt job cutbacks and ultimatum, it seems that Twitter is still operational and has been unaffected by the loss of over 5,000 people. However, it remains to be seen how the platform will do in the long run under Musk’s leadership, especially given the platform’s persistent issues over content control.
In the IT industry, there is a clear trend of austerity and job cutbacks. This may be ascribed to persistent economic uncertainties, shifting market circumstances, and growing rivalry among technology businesses. It remains to be seen how this trend will continue and how it will affect the industry as a whole in the future year.
Twitter, on the other hand, is clearly experiencing significant changes under Musk’s leadership. The billionaire has said that the firm would begin employing in 2023, however, it is unclear what positions and talents will be available. This is likely to result in some changes for the corporation, but it is unknown how these changes will affect the company and its consumers in the long term.
Overall, Musk’s purchase of Twitter seems to be a work in progress, with the actual effect of his leadership and employment layoffs still to be seen. The internet industry is in change, and it will be fascinating to observe how Twitter and other digital businesses adapt and develop over the next year.
