Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the founder of SpaceX, said in a meeting with Twitter employees should expect layoffs once he now owns the social media network.
Musk said, “It depends. The company does need to get healthy,” and added, “Right now, the costs exceed revenue.”
He did clarify, though, that there must be a rational headcount of employees at Twitter in order for the company to develop. In an earlier meeting, current CEO Parag Agrawal told employees that no layoffs were planned.
Musk went on to comment on the layoff situation “anyone who is a signification contributor has nothing to worry about.” Musk also said, “if someone is getting useful things done, that’s great. If they’re not then I’m like why are they at the company.”
Musk mentioned a 900-job layoff but emphasized the employment cuts would be temporary until the corporation resumed its growth.
Musk prefers office workers over remote workers, according to a leaked email from the entrepreneur. However, he did not say whether Twitter’s policy on remote workers will change now that he owns the platform.
He stated that if someone is outstanding at their job, they can work remotely. Nonetheless, he did not define what an exceptional worker actually means.
Musk’s statements come as a number of tech firms, primarily crypto firms, are laying off employees. Many businesses believe that eliminating staff is important to survive in the face of inflation, a future recession, and the diminishing value of Bitcoin.
Coinbase reduced 18 percent of its workforce after promising to hire 2,000 new employees by 2022. Crypto.com, based in Singapore, laid off roughly 260 employees, accounting for about 5% of its workforce. Last week, Gemini Exchange announced a 10% workforce reduction, while BlockFi announced a 20% reduction on Monday.
“While the level of claims remains low, and the overall labor market remains extremely tight by historic standards, the latest data suggest that some sectors may be experiencing a modest uptick in layoffs amid rising concerns over inflation,” claimed U.S. economist Mahir Rasheed of Oxford Economics.
Related news revealed that Musk is not the only one who believes Twitter requires significant changes. Twitter’s senior executives, in particular, have recently bid farewell to their former employer and Elon Musk.
Ahead of the expected Twitter takeover from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, two vice presidents and another senior employee at Twitter parted ways with the social media platform.
Vice president of Twitter Service Katrina Lane, vice president of product management Ilya Brown, and head of data Max Schmeiser are all leaving, a spokesperson for the company confirmed, saying that they are departing for new opportunities.
Following the departures of the general manager of Twitter’s consumer product division, Kayvon Beykpour, and revenue product lead, Bruce Falk, the new departures came just a week after they left the company.