Twitter staff in the United Kingdom are preparing to hear if they will be affected by Elon Musk’s mass layoffs, which are expected to affect almost half of the company’s 8,000 employees.
According to one employee, British employees were asleep when their laptops were “remotely wiped” and their access to Slack and Gmail was banned.
The social media behemoth has headquarters in London and Manchester, but the number of its employees in these cities is unclear.
Today at 4pm UK time, all employees should receive an email with the subject ‘Your Role at Twitter’
Simon Balmain, a senior community manager for the platform in the United Kingdom, stated that he felt he had been laid off after being logged out of his laptop and the Slack messaging application.
“Everyone received an email stating that there would be a significant decrease in personnel, and approximately one hour later, laptops were remotely wiped and access to Slack and Gmail was revoked,” he told the BBC.
“Most UK residents are undoubtedly asleep and unaware at this time. Due to my projects, I was working primarily Los Angeles hours, therefore I was still up when it occurred.
Another UK employee, whose Twitter page said she worked in news and entertainment partnerships, tweeted: “Whatever happens, Tweeps, know that you have created something wonderful.
You made an impression. You have an incredible #OneTeam.’
Elon Musk (pictured on Halloween) has began his Twitter layoffs, with the business alerting employees to expect email termination notifications while it temporarily closes all of its offices.
The social media behemoth has headquarters in London (pictured) and Manchester, although it is unclear how many staff it employs in these cities.
One UK employee, whose Twitter page said she worked in news and entertainment partnerships, tweeted: “Whatever happens, Tweeps, know that you have created something wonderful. You made an impression. You are an incredible #OneTeam.
Musk plans to lay off 3,700 people in an effort to cut expenses following his $44 billion (£38 billion) takeover.
However, American employees have already launched a class-action complaint in San Francisco, alleging that the lack of notice prior to the terminations violates federal and California law.
Today at 4 p.m. UK time, all workers will receive an email titled ‘Your Role at Twitter’, which will inform them of their employment status at the firm.
Twitter announced that its offices will be temporarily closed and all worker credential access will be revoked in order to “help secure the safety of each employee, Twitter systems, and customer data.”
Please return home if you are in or on your way to a workplace, stated the memo.
“On Friday, in an effort to put Twitter on a healthy path, we will undergo the challenging process of decreasing our global staff.
We know that this will have an impact on a lot of individuals who have made great contributions to Twitter, but we must take this move to secure the company’s future success.
The email said, ‘We recognize that this is an extraordinarily difficult event to endure, regardless of whether you are affected.
A late-Thursday, November 3, 2022 Twitter message informing staff of job cuts
Team,
Friday, in an effort to put Twitter on a healthy path, we will undergo the challenging process of decreasing our global staff. We know that this will have an impact on a lot of individuals who have made great contributions to Twitter, but we must take this move to secure the company’s future success.
Due to the dispersed nature of our workforce and our wish to inform affected persons as fast as possible, this process will be communicated by email. By 9 a.m. PST on Friday, November 4, everyone will get an email with the subject line: Your Twitter Role. Please review your email, as well as your spam folder.
If your employment will not be affected, you will get an email from Twitter.
If your employment is affected, you will receive an email with instructions on the following actions.
If you do not receive an email from twitter-hr@ by Friday, November 4, at 5:00 PM PST, please send an email to peoplequestions@twitter.com.
To assist protect the safety of each employee, Twitter systems, and customer data, we will temporarily close our offices and suspend badge access. Please return home if you are in an office or on your way to an office.
Whether or not you are affected, we recognize that this is an immensely difficult circumstance to endure. Thank you for continuing to abide by Twitter’s policy prohibiting the dissemination of confidential corporate information on social media, to the press, or elsewhere.
We appreciate your contributions to Twitter as well as your patience during this transition.
Thank you very much.
The Washington Post serves as the source.
“Thank you for adhering to Twitter’s policies, which prevent you from revealing private corporate information on social media, with the press, or elsewhere.”
The news of layoffs culminates a week of high-level purges by Mr. Musk, who sought significant cost reductions and imposed a tough new work culture across the social media giant.
He had already purged the high ranks of the corporation, removing the CEO and top financial and legal professionals. Others, including the heads of the company’s advertising, marketing, and human resources departments, have departed over the course of the past week.
Prior to acquiring Twitter, Musk stated that the company under his control would be extremely focused on software engineering, design, information security, and server hardware.
The previous week, he grumbled in a tweet that ‘there appear to be ten people’managing’ for each person coding.’
The long-anticipated layoffs have dampened Twitter’s famously open company culture, which was revered by its employees.
Two employees told Reuters that shortly after the email arrived in Twitter employee inboxes, hundreds of people swarmed the company’s Slack channels to say farewell. Sources say that someone invited Musk to join the channel. The first week of Musk’s ownership of Twitter has been characterised by chaos and confusion. Two company-wide meetings were scheduled, but were abruptly canceled mere hours beforehand.
Managers are prohibited from holding team meetings and speaking directly with employees, according to a senior Twitter employee, who added that their communications are being watched.
The individual stated, “It feels like we’re working among the Gestapo.”
According to two persons familiar with the subject and an internal Slack message, Musk has also asked Twitter Inc.’s teams to find up to $1bn (£896m) in annual infrastructure cost savings.
Even as Musk reduces Twitter’s expenses, he confronts risks to the company’s revenue as an increasing number of advertisers cease spending on the site out of concern that it will not remain’safe’ for businesses.
A representative for Audi told DailyMail.com on Thursday, one week following the completion of Musk’s takeover, that the company has suspended paid support on Twitter and will continue to review the situation.
A representative for General Mills, which also manufactures Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, and Haagen-Dazs, confirmed a pause, stating, “We will continue to watch this new trend and evaluate our marketing expenditures.”
Last week, General Motors declared it had ‘temporarily halted’ all sponsored advertising on Twitter due to concerns over Musk’s treatment of competitors. Musk is the CEO of Tesla, a competitor.
In addition, Oreo manufacturer Mondelez International and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have halted their Twitter advertising spending, according to a Wall Street Journal story citing sources with knowledge of the situation.
Thursday evening, spokespeople for Mondelez and Pfizer did not immediately reply to calls for comment from DailyMail.com.
Twitter has ceased responding to any press requests with the exception of the few Musk tweets.
Twitter has halted all employee access to its San Francisco headquarters (above) and other offices, advising employees to “go home” and await word on their employment status.
Audi and General Mills, the packaged-food giant behind Cheerios, have joined a growing list of corporations that have ceased advertising on Twitter since Elon Musk acquired the platform.
Musk vowed last week that he would prevent Twitter from becoming a “free-for-all hellscape” and is now attempting to convince advertisers that he will keep his word.
Reportedly, some advertisers have pledged to permanently boycott Twitter if former president Donald Trump is permitted to return. Musk stated on Wednesday that it will be many weeks before a procedure to reinstate banned accounts is in place.
A media buyer at a big ad agency, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, stated that the firm would meet with Musk this week to inquire about how the Tesla CEO intends to manage misinformation on social media.
The buyer also wanted to know how Musk’s promise corresponded with his own acts, such as a weekend tweet that circulated a bogus conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Other issues include Musk’s desire to increase the price of Twitter’s subscription service and serve ‘half as many advertisements,’ as well as who will serve as the point of contact for advertisers after a series of senior executives, including Twitter’s ad boss, have left the firm since he took over.
The media buyer stated that the ad agency’s key clients are likely to attend the conference.
Musk is under pressure to avoid upsetting Twitter’s advertisers, who contribute more than 90 percent of the company’s revenue, after he tweeted in 2019 about his distaste of advertising.
He is spending his first week as CEO in New York, where he is joined by venture capitalist friends to reassure corporations that annually donate more than $5 billion to Twitter.
Angel investor and podcast presenter Jason Calacanis, who is supporting Musk in his first week as owner, wrote on Monday that Twitter had a’very fruitful day’ with advertisers and marketers.
Monday, Jason Calacanis, who is supporting Elon Musk in his first week as CEO, stated that Twitter had a “very busy day” with advertisers.
Musk posted a poll on Twitter on Wednesday night, asking if advertisers should support free speech or ‘political correctness’
Another media buyer told Reuters that their agency will not meet with Musk until he articulates Twitter’s strategy or provides a substantial update on how the site will serve advertisers.
This week, several clients have ceased spending on Twitter advertisements, according to a second media buyer, who declined to name the advertisers because he was not permitted to do so.
The buyer stated that some clients had already withdrawn from Twitter as a result of the months-long upheaval surrounding the purchase, and others owing to worries regarding child sexual abuse content on Twitter.
According to a source familiar with the situation, IPG, an advertising holding company whose clients include Coca-Cola and American Express, has instructed its clients to suspend their Twitter advertisements for the next week.
Even as Musk met with major agencies and advertisers this week, he took to Twitter on Wednesday evening to conduct a poll asking whether marketers should support free speech or “political correctness.”
Nearly 80 percent of more than two million votes were for ‘freedom of speech’
The media buyer stated, “These types of provocations are not helping to calm the seas.”
In addition, more advertisers voiced their concerns on LinkedIn regarding Musk’s takeover of the network.
‘Unless Elon employs new leaders committed to keeping this ‘free’ platform safe from hate speech, brands cannot/should not advertise on it,’ wrote Allie Wassum, global director of social and integrated media for Nike-owned Jordan shoe brand, on Linkedin.
Wassum did not provide more remark in response to a request.