'Unfortunately, there is no choice': Elon Musk defends culling Twitter staff

1 year ago 29

Elon Musk has defended sacking fractional of Twitter's 8,000 workers, saying "unfortunately, determination is nary choice".

Mr Musk insisted that the platform's committedness to moderation remained "absolutely unchanged".

He tweeted: "Regarding Twitter's simplification successful force, unluckily determination is nary prime erstwhile the institution is losing implicit $4m a day.

"Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% much than legally required."

Just minutes earlier Mr Musk's tweets, Twitter caput of information and integrity Yoel Roth confirmed the layoffs had affected 50% of the company, including astir 15% of the spot and information department.

Frontline moderation unit had experienced "the slightest impact", helium added.

Mr Musk re-tweeted this, describing it arsenic an "excellent summary".

The words were aimed astatine reassuring users disquieted that Mr Musk's takeover and the occupation losses would gut the moderation and information teams and render the level lawless.

This is peculiarly important up of the US midterm elections, with Twitter having been blamed arsenic a origin successful the dispersed of dis-information and abuse.

Jessica González, co-chief enforcement of Free Press, said: "When you layoff reportedly 50% of your unit - including teams who are successful complaint of really tracking, monitoring and enforcing contented moderation and rules - that needfully means that contented moderation has changed."

Entire teams eliminated

Several employees tweeted astir losing their jobs, saying Twitter had eliminated teams focused connected quality rights and planetary conflicts, different squad checking algorithms for bias successful however tweets are amplified, and an engineering squad devoted to making the level much accessible for radical with disabilities.

The institution had moved to reassure unit past month that determination were nary plans for wide redundancies aft it was reported that Mr Musk wanted to marque 75% of the workforce redundant aft his $44bn (£38.4bn) takeover.

But Mr Musk fired a fig of apical executives, including Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, and removed the company's committee of directors connected his archetypal time arsenic owner.

Lawsuit filed by ex-employees

Employees were aboriginal told that they would find retired their aboriginal connected Friday, with immoderate getting aboriginal clues aft losing entree to their enactment accounts.

At slightest 1 suit has been filed by 4 ex-employees alleging Twitter had violated national instrumentality by not giving fired employees the required notice, The Associated Press reported.

Mr Musk could besides beryllium unfastened to favoritism claims if it turns retired that definite groups were disproportionately affected, specified arsenic women, radical of colour oregon older workers.

'Great care' needed successful 'layoffs of this magnitude'

Employment lawyer Peter Rahbar told The Associated Press that astir employers "take large attraction successful doing layoffs of this magnitude" to marque they are justified and don't unfairly discriminate oregon bring unwanted attraction to the company.

"For immoderate reason, helium seemingly wants to laic disconnected fractional the institution without doing immoderate owed diligence connected what these radical bash oregon who they are and without immoderate regards to the law."

In the UK, Twitter is required by instrumentality to springiness employees notice, according to Emma Bartlett, a spouse successful employment and concern instrumentality astatine CM Murray LLP.

Failure to notify the authorities successful the lawsuit of wide firings could "have transgression penalties associated with it", she said, adding that whether transgression sanctions are ever applied is different question.

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