In a letter to employees obtained by multiple media outlets, the company said workers would learn by noon ET if they had been fired. The email to staff said the job cuts were “necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.” The email did not say how many people would lose their jobs, but previous reports at the company indicated that Musk was looking to cut staff by between 50 and 75 percent. Globally, Twitter has about 7,500 employees. About 250 are in Canada, mostly in Toronto and Vancouver, but the company allows telecommuting. At least two of the company’s senior executives in Canada have left. Paul Burns, managing director of the company’s Canadian operations, and Michele Austin, Twitter’s director of public policy for the US and Canada, announced their departures from the San Francisco-based tech giant via social media on Friday. Yesterday’s reduction in force affected around 15% of the Trust & Security Organization (as opposed to cuts of around 50% across the company), with our front line moderation staff having the least impact. —@yoyoel The email to staff asked office staff to go home and check their work and personal emails for information about their work status. If they lost their job, the news would come to their personal email. If they stayed, it would be through their Twitter email. “By 9am PST on Friday, November 4th, everyone will receive an individual email with the subject: Your role on Twitter,” the email said. “Check your email, including your spam folder. If your employment is not affected, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email.” On Friday night, Musk tweeted that there was “no choice” but to make layoffs, claiming the company was losing $4 million a day. Under US law, employers with at least 100 employees are required to disclose layoffs involving 500 or more employees, regardless of whether a company is public or private. Musk, in a tweet Friday night, said affected workers had been offered three months of severance pay. In an earlier tweet, while workers were learning if they had lost their jobs, Musk blamed activists for what he described as a “massive drop in revenue” since he took over Twitter late last week. He did not say how much revenue was down. Major companies including General Motors, General Mills and Audi have all paused advertising on Twitter amid questions about how it will fare under Musk.
