Alex Bruno
The Washington Post stated that if Elon Musk purchases Twitter, he intends to fire over 75% of its 7,500 workers, marking one of the largest tech industry job losses in recent memory.
The Post referred to Musk’s interactions with potential investors. To avoid a trial in Delaware, the billionaire is anticipated to finish his renewed $44 billion acquisition transaction by October 28; nevertheless, it may yet fall through.
The Post said, citing corporate records, that even if Musk doesn’t buy the business, management still wants to reduce expenses by around $800 million and lay off almost a quarter of the workforce.
In the second quarter, Twitter’s revenue decreased by 1% compared to the same period last year, far less than the analysts’ predicted 10.5% increase and in the midst of a general decline in the digital advertising market.
The impending layoffs would be another setback for the economy of San Francisco. A tech downturn has led to employment cuts at other Bay Area tech giants including Oracle, Twilio, and Robinhood, and several businesses, including Twitter, have frozen recruiting recently.
Twitter, which has its headquarters in Mid-Market, already permits staff to work from home indefinitely and has made a section of its workspace available for sublease. In an effort to save money, the corporation also decided to scrap plans to expand its Oakland headquarters.
Although Twitter said San Francisco was its main center in January, it is unclear how many of its workers are currently based there. One of the most well-known local brands to emerge from the 2010s tech boom is this organization, and in an effort to get Twitter to move to Mid-Market, the city gave it a contentious payroll tax reduction in 2011.
Musk couldn’t be contacted for comment right away, and Twitter took some time to react to a request for comment.
With his claims that his employees at Tesla and SpaceX must work 40 hours a week in person or risk being fired, Musk has established himself as an opponent of remote labor. Whether he was to purchase Twitter, it is unknown if he would alter its policy on flexible employment.
In the aftermath of Tesla shifting its headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin last year, Musk has also slammed California for its high housing prices and restrictions on companies.
Source: SFChronicle
