Twitter's workforce is likely to witness job cuts as Elon Musk has plans to lay off several employees, if and when he becomes the owner of the social media company. According to a report by The Washington Post, Musk's plan in connection with the layoff was shared by him with prospective investors during talks over his Twitter purchase.
Musk said he plans to cut nearly 75 per cent of Twitter's employee base of 7,500 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew, the report stated, citing documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.
While job cuts have been expected regardless of the sale, the magnitude of Musk's planned cuts is far more extreme than anything Twitter had planned.
Musk himself has alluded to the need to cull some of the company's staff in the past, but he hadn't given a specific number — at least not publicly.
"A 75 per cent headcount cut would indicate, at least out of the gates, stronger free cash flow and profitability, which would be attractive to investors looking to get in on the deal," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
“That said, you can't cut your way to growth."
Ives added that such a drastic reduction in Twitter's workforce would likely set the company back years.
Already, experts, nonprofits and even Twitter's own staff have warned that pulling back investments on content moderation and data security could hurt Twitter and its users.
With as drastic a reduction as Musk may be planning, the platform could quickly become overrun with harmful content and spam — the latter of which the Tesla CEO himself has said he'll address if he becomes the owner of the company.
After his initial USD 44 billion bid in April to buy Twitter, Musk backed out of the deal, contending Twitter misrepresented the number of fake “spam bot” accounts on its platform.
Twitter sued, and a Delaware judge has given both sides until October 28 to work out details.
Otherwise, there will be a trial in November.
(With inputs from PTI)
Also Read | Twitter confirms Musk buyout offer; deal likely at $54.20 per share
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