Key Takeaways:
- Billionaire Elon Musk plans to fire 75% of Twitter employees if he takes over the company
- Twitter's staff currently comprises around 7500 people
- Activists and social media users have slammed Musk's plans
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — World’s richest man Elon Musk plans to make drastic changes in Twitter ($TWTR) when (and if) he takes over the company. According to a recent report by the Washington Post, Musk told prospective investors that he plans to fire about 75% of the company’s workforce. The Twitter staff comprises nearly 7,500 employees.
Elon Musk brought the Twitter deal back on the table after the company sued him for refusing to go ahead with his acquisition plans. Shareholders later approved the purchase, increasing his pressure to complete the deal.
Earlier this year, Musk locked horns with the company’s board of directors after announcing his hostile takeover plans. Twitter initially contested his $44 billion generous yet hostile offer, which placed a price of $54.20 per share.
Meanwhile, the Tesla founder isn’t the only eyeing to cut the Twitter employees to size. According to reports, even if Musk does not purchase the company, job cuts are expected anyways.
According to reports, Twitter’s management plans to reduce the company’s payroll by about $800 million by the end of next year.
This comes months after the social media giant revoked job offers after announcing that it would slow down hiring amid the global economic crisis.
Why does Twitter need 7,500 employees?
The news of Elon Musk firing 75% of Twitter’s staff has received mixed reactions. Some people and organizations slammed Musk for planning to render so many people jobless.
“I thought creating jobs was y’all’s talking points? Now it’s fine to get rid of them because rich guy says so? It’s hard to follow the thought process of followers,”
one Twitter user slammed supporters of the move.
Occupy Democrats, an American left-wing social media movement, called Musk a “Right-wing billionaire” who plans to turn Twitter into a platform for “racists and Nazis.”
However, the seemingly high number of Twitter staff caught the attention of many people. People could not digest that the social media mogul has 7,500 employees.
Some wondered what so many people were doing at the company, especially when there were no major regular updates.
“Twitter does not need 7,500 employees. What are they all even doing?”
one user asked.
Meanwhile, others claimed firing employees would reflect positively on the company’s stock. Since Twitter employees allegedly earn a handsome paycheck, firing 75% of the workforce would mean massive savings.
However, as many pointed out, firing over 5000 employees would also impact the quality of work at the company.
Musk has not even acquired Twitter, so it is too rich for him to fire the company staff. However, should the deal materialize, it will spell trouble for current employees.
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