Twitter employees prepare for layoff notices today

Twitter temporarily closed its offices and cut off workers’ access to internal systems on Friday after telling employees they would be notified by email later in the day of their layoffs.

The move follows a week of uncertainty over the future of the business under new owner Elon Musk.

The social media company said in an email to staff that it would notify them by 12 p.m. ET on Friday of the staff reductions.

“In an effort to put Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” reads the email sent on Thursday, seen by Reuters.

Shortly after the email landed in employee 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.

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

Twitter employees expressed their frustration over the layoffs on the social network, using the hashtag #OneTeam.

User rachel bonn tweeted: “Last Thursday in SF [San Francisco] office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. 8 months pregnant and I have a 9 month old baby. I was just cut off from access to the laptop.”

Responding to the #OneTeam thread, Twitter Safety and Integrity Manager Yoel Roth said, “Tweeps: My DMs (direct message routes) are always open to you. Let me know how I can help. “

Roth was the highest-ranking executive to send a public message with a tweet of support for staff losing their jobs. He also seemed to still have his job. Musk last week endorsed Roth, citing his “high integrity” after being called out for tweets criticizing former US President Donald Trump years earlier.

Twitter said in the email that its offices would be temporarily closed and all badge access would be suspended to “help ensure the safety of every employee as well as Twitter’s systems and customer data.”

Musk has promised to restore free speech while preventing Twitter from descending into “hell”. However, his assurances have not stopped major advertisers from threatening to pull out of the platform.

Volkswagen has recommended that its brands suspend paid advertising on Twitter until further notice following the Musk takeover, it said on Friday. His comments echoed remarks from other companies, including General Motors and General Mills, as well as some media buying outlets that place advertisements for customers.

The impact on international operations is unclear

The company’s offices in Piccadilly Circus, London, appeared deserted on Friday, with no employees in sight.

A member of security staff at Twitter’s Dublin office told reporters no one was entering on Friday and employees had been asked to stay home. Another member of security staff locked the revolving doors at the front of the building where around 500 staff worked before the layoffs began.

The impact of Twitter’s global changes on the company’s Toronto office, which opened in 2013 and announced a new engineering center last year, is still unclear. The company also has offices in Australia, Brazil, France, India, Japan and Singapore.

Inside, all evidence that the social media giant had once occupied the building had been erased. Security staff said there were ongoing renovations, declining to comment further.

The company said employees not affected by the layoffs would be notified through their work email addresses. Staff who had been laid off would be notified of next steps at their personal email addresses, the memo said.

Some employees tweeted that their access to the company’s computer system had been blocked and feared it might suggest they had been fired.

A class action lawsuit was filed Thursday against Twitter by its employees, who argued the company was carrying out mass layoffs without providing the required 60-day notice, in violation of federal and California laws.

Musk has asked Twitter teams to find up to US$1 billion in annual infrastructure cost savings, according to two sources familiar with the matter and an internal Slack post reviewed by Reuters.

He has already gutted the company’s top ranks, firing its chief executive and key financial and legal officers. Others, including those who sit at the top of the company’s advertising, marketing and human resources divisions, have left over the past week.

Other tech layoffs announced this week

Musk’s first week as owner of Twitter has been marked by chaos and uncertainty. Two company-wide meetings were scheduled, only to be canceled hours later. Employees told Reuters they had to gather information through media reports, private messaging groups and anonymous forums.

The expected layoffs come with a U.S. jobs report for October to be released on Friday and watched closely for signs that employers are slowing hiring.

Many tech companies are experiencing slowdowns in their business. Ride-sharing provider Lyft and fintech company Stripe said this week they were cutting jobs. Amazon said Thursday it would suspend hiring at its offices, while Microsoft announced layoff plans late last month.

Layoffs are also being talked about by companies in other industries, including media companies Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery/CNN, as well as Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley in the financial sector.