Summary:
- Twitter employees have written an open letter opposing Elon Musk’s plans to reduce the company’s workforce by 75%
- Elon Musk has reportedly announced plans to cut Twitter’s 7,500 employees to 2,000
- Elon Musk has until Friday, October 28th, to close the deal
A storm is brewing at Twitter as its employees did not take to lightly the alleged plans by Elon Musk to reduce the company’s workforce by 75%. Twitter employees have since written an open letter to Elon Musk, which has been shared with the team at Time Magazine.
Elon Musk’s Plans Will Hurt Twitter’s Plans to Serve the Public Conversation
The letter starts by pointing out that a reduction of employees would ‘hurt Twitter’s ability to serve the public conversation.’ It added that such a threat was reckless, undermined users’ trust in the platform, and was a transparent act of worker intimidation.
It added:
Twitter has significant effects on societies and communities across the globe. As we speak, Twitter is helping to uplift independent journalism in Ukraine and Iran, as well as powering social movements around the world.
A threat to workers at Twitter is a threat to Twitter’s future. These threats have an impact on us as workers and demonstrate a fundamental disconnect with the realities of operating Twitter.
Twitter Employee Demands to Elon Musk
The open letter by Twitter employees further provided the following demands from the current and future leadership at the company.
- Respect – the employees demand the leadership to ‘respect the platform and the workers who maintain it by committing to preserving the current headcount’
- Safety – they also demand that ‘leadership does not discriminate against workers based on their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs.’ They also demand that workers on visas will not be forced out of the country if they are laid off.
- Protection – they demand that Elon Musk preserve the benefits listed in the merger agreement and establish fair severance policies for all workers before and after any change in ownership.
- Dignity – that all employees be treated with dignity and not as pawns in a game by billionaires. Twitter employees want ‘transparent, prompt and thoughtful communication around our working conditions’