Twitter temporarily closes its offices due to the start of layoffs

Twitter Inc It temporarily closed its offices on Friday after telling employees they would be informed by email later in the day if they were laid off.

The move follows a week of uncertainty over the future of the company, which is now owned by the billionaire. Elon Musk.

The social media company said in an email to staff that it would notify employees by 9 a.m. local time on Friday (4 p.m. GMT) of the job cuts.

“In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy pathon Friday we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global headcount,” said the email sent on Thursday, seen by Reuters.

Musk, the world’s richest person, wants to cut about 3,700 Twitter jobs, half of his workforce, as he seeks to cut costs and impose a demanding new work ethic, according to internal plans reviewed by Reuters this week.

The company’s content moderation team is expected to be one of the targets of the cuts, tweets from Twitter employees suggested on Friday.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Twitter employees aired their frustrations over the layoffs on the social network, using the hashtag #OneTeam.

User Rachel Bonn tweeted: “Last Thursday at the SF (San Francisco) office was really the last day Twitter was Twitter. I’m 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old. They just cut me off.” to the laptop”.

In response to the #OneTeam thread, Twitter’s Head of Safety and Integrity Yoel Roth said “Tweeps: My DMs (direct message routes) are always open to you. Let me know how I can help.”

Roth has been the highest level manager who has spoken publicly with a tweet in support of the staff who are losing their jobs and it seemed that they still had their job.

Roth did not respond to a request for comment.

Twitter said in the email that its offices would be temporarily closed and all access to ID cards suspended in order to “help ensure the security of each employee, as well as Twitter’s systems and customer data.”

The company’s office in Piccadilly Circus, London, seemed deserted on Friday, no employees in sight. Inside, any evidence that the social media giant occupied the building had been erased. Security personnel said renovations were underway, declining to comment further.

A class action lawsuit was filed Thursday against Twitter by its employees, who allege the company was carrying out mass layoffs without giving the required 60 days’ notice, in violation of California and federal law.

The lawsuit also asks the federal court of San Francisco to issue an order restricting Twitter from asking terminated employees to sign documents without properly informing them.

Musk has directed Twitter teams to find up to $1 billion in annual savings on infrastructure costs, according to two sources familiar with the matter and an internal Slack message seen by Reuters.

Musk had already fired the company’s top executives, including its CEO and top finance and legal executives. Others, including those who head the company’s advertising, marketing and human resources divisions, left over the past week.

Musk’s first week as owner of Twitter has been marked by chaos and uncertainty. Two meetings were scheduled for the entire company, which were canceled hours later. The workers told Reuters they had to gather information through newspaper articles, private messaging groups and anonymous forums.

The long-awaited layoffs have put an end to Twitter’s famous corporate culture, which has been praised by many of its employees.

“If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please come home,” Twitter said in the email on Thursday.

Shortly after the email hit workers’ inboxes, hundreds of people flooded the company’s Slack channels to say goodbye, two employees told Reuters. Someone invited Musk to join the channel, the sources said.