Popular social media platform, Twitter, has sacked half of its 7,500-strong staff as Elon Musk takes over.
This new development is a result of the new owner’s decision to launch a major overhaul of the beleaguered company one week after his acquisition.
An internal document seen by AFP said “roughly 50 percent” of employees were impacted and would be denied access to company computers and email on an immediate basis.
Twitter’s director of public policy for the United States and Canada, Michele Austin, and other workers took to Twitter to voice out their frustration and disbelief.
Austin said, “Woke up to the news that my time working at Twitter has come to an end. I am heartbroken. I am in denial.”
Ahead of the layoffs, Twitter closed access to its offices worldwide, asking employees to stay at home to await news of their fate through an email.
“It’s a pretty inhumane way to treat people. It seems like a mercenary effort. They’re trying to save money at all costs,” said one dismissed employee who preferred anonymity.
Company sources said that Musk’s teams were imposing a furious pace on the remaining employees, bringing in Tesla developers to oversee the work of “Tweeps,” the inhouse name for Twitter workers.
