Elon Musk intends to lay off 75% of Twitter workforce, says report

Billionaire Elon Musk intends to lay off the majority of Twitter's workforce when his long-delayed agreement to acquire the social media firm would complete, as per a report by The Washington Post on Thursday. The Tesla CEO has informed potential investors in his purchase of Twitter that he plans to lay off approximately 75% of the company's 7,500 employees, leaving it with a 'skeleton crew', citing the report, Associated Press reported. Documents as well as unnamed individuals acquainted with the discussions were mentioned by the publication. 

Even though job cutbacks were anticipated regardless of the sale, Musk's proposed ones will be much more extreme than anything Twitter had in mind. Musk has previously hinted at the necessity to reduce the company's workforce, but he hasn't specified a figure, at least not in public. 

Furthermore, the attorney representing Musk named Alex Spiro and the San Francisco-based Twitter did not immediately reply to the requests for comment. 

Twitter and its users may suffer if investments in content moderation are reduced

According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, "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”. Ives further added, "That said, you can’t cut your way to growth.” 

Ives continued by saying that a workforce decrease of this kind would probably cause Twitter to fall years behind. 

According to the Associated Press report, Twitter and its users may suffer if investments in content moderation and data security are reduced, experts, nonprofits, and even Twitter's own workers noted. The platform may swiftly be swamped with bad content and spam with such a significant reduction as Musk may be intending.  

It is pertinent to mention that Elon Musk withdrew his $44 billion purchase offer for Twitter in the month of April, claiming that Twitter had misrepresented the number of phony "spam bot" accounts it had on its network. Further, a Delaware judge has given Musk until October 28 to complete the purchase of Twitter, or he will be subject to a trial that may potentially compel the transaction, Forbes reported.  Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk after he tried to back out of the agreement earlier this year, and a trial was initially scheduled for this month. However, Musk announced two weeks ago that he is still prepared to acquire the company for the original price. If the acquisition goes through, Musk will take ownership of Twitter as a private corporation. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash)