Elon Musk Reportedly Told Investors He’s Going To Gut Company; Here’s How Much Of The Workforce That Could Be Cut

Billionaire Elon Musk is reportedly planning to completely gut out Twitter’s workforce, which is bad news for a whole lot of folks, but ultimately the right move. Musk spoke with investors concerning his deal to buy the social media company, noting that he was going to hand out pink slips to nearly 75 percent of the company’s 7,500 workers, according to a piece published by the Washington Post.

The deal between Musk and Twitter where he is purchasing the company for $44 billion, is expected to close by next Friday in good faith after a months-long court battle.

Here’s more from the Business Insider:

The Post found that even if Musk does not end up buying Twitter, massive layoffs would still be in the picture for the social media company.

Twitter’s current management reportedly planned to slash the company’s payroll by about $800 million by next year regardless of the deal, which the Post said would mean at least a quarter of Twitter’s workforce would have to depart. Insider could not independently verify Twitter and Musk’s plans for layoffs, and Twitter could not be immediately reached for comment.

Many tech companies are contending with hiring freezes and layoffs amid a slowing economy, though no other tech company of Twitter’s size has laid off such a large percentage of its workforce in recent months.

Several experts who sat down with the Post stated that layoffs of this magnitude could ultimately open up the Twitter platform to an increased risk of hacks and offensive content posted to the website.

“In August, a whistleblower complaint from Twitter’s former head of security was made public that accused the company of negligent and reckless cybersecurity policies,” the Business Insider said.

SCOOP: Elon Musk told investors he planned to cut 75% of Twitter’s workforce, gutting to a skeleton staff of 2,000. Also, Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman passed on the Twitter deal. Via me @faizsays @GerritD @jeremybmerrill https://t.co/epoiv3pArV

— Elizabeth Dwoskin (@lizzadwoskin) October 20, 2022

“Depending on which services and job types are affected, any future cuts could be felt by Twitter workers in the Seattle area. The company first set up shop in the city in 2012. In 2014, it moved to a dedicated engineering office for 50 employees in downtown Seattle. A year later, the office size doubled to nearly 100 employees,” Geekwire reported.

Apparently, according to someone who works for the real estate firm JLL in Seattle, Twitter still occupies two floors at the Century Square building in Seattle, and, as of this writing, it’s not currently being marketed for sublease.

However, it’s important to point out that Twitter adopted a work-from-home-forever policy during the thick of the COVID pandemic. It seems that Musk might have some thoughts about that as well, just like he did with Tesla when he told employees back in June if they didn’t show up to work, the company would assume those individuals resigned.

One thing that most individuals are hoping for with Musk’s takeover of the company is that there will be much more freedom when it comes to sharing thoughts and opinions on the platform. Right now, individuals are experiencing a whole lot of censorship, including some folks being permanently banned, such as former President Donald Trump.

Perhaps Musk will loose Trump from the digital prison Twitter stuck him in and he can get back to more fully motivating his base of supporters to continue fighting the good fight and standing up for truth.