Elon Musk plans to chop 75% of Twitter workforce, says report

Elon Musk plans to put off most of Twitter’s workforce if and when he turns into proprietor of the social media firm, in accordance with a report Thursday by The Washington Post.

Musk has informed potential traders in his Twitter buy that he plans to chop almost 75% of Twitter’s worker base of seven,500 staff, leaving the corporate with a skeleton crew, in accordance with the report.

The newspaper cited paperwork and unnamed sources accustomed to the deliberations. San Francisco-based Twitter and a consultant for Musk legal professional Alex Spiro didn’t instantly reply to messages searching for remark.

While job cuts have been anticipated whatever the sale, the magnitude of Musk’s deliberate cuts are much more excessive than something Twitter had deliberate. Musk himself has alluded to the necessity to cull a number of the firm’s employees prior to now, however he hadn’t given a particular quantity — no less than not publicly.

“A 75% 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,” mentioned Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “That said, you can’t cut your way to growth.”

Ives added that such a drastic discount in Twitter’s workforce would seemingly set the corporate again years.

Already, consultants, nonprofits and even Twitter’s personal employees have warned that pulling again investments on content material moderation and information safety may harm Twitter and its customers. With as drastic a discount as Musk could also be planning, the platform may rapidly turn out to be overrun with dangerous content material and spam — the latter of which the Tesla CEO himself has mentioned he’ll tackle if he turns into proprietor of the corporate.

After his preliminary $44 billion bid in April to purchase Twitter, Musk backed out of the deal, contending Twitter misrepresented the variety of faux “spam bot” accounts on its platform. Twitter sued, and a Delaware choose has given either side till Oct. 28 to work out particulars. Otherwise, there shall be a trial in November.