Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco. Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last October. AFP
Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco. Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last October. AFP
Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco. Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last October. AFP
Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco. Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last October. AFP

Business

Technology

Twitter lays off at least 50 to offset plunge in revenue, The Information says

The latest round of job cuts targeted multiple engineering teams, according to a new report

Deepthi Nair
Deepthi Nair

February 26, 2023

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  • Arabic

Social media platform Twitter laid off at least 50 employees on Saturday in what is thought to be at least the eighth round of job cuts since Elon Musk took over the company in late October, business publication The Information reported.

The latest round of job cuts targeted multiple engineering teams, including those supporting advertising technology, the main Twitter app and technical infrastructure to keep systems up and running, the US technology-focused publication said in a report on Sunday.

Tens of thousands of jobs have been cut in the technology sector in recent months amid rising interest rates and growing fears of recession in the world's largest economy.

Companies such as Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Google's parent Alphabet have axed staff after boosting hiring at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spotify, IBM, Disney, PayPal and Dell are other major companies to have cut jobs in recent weeks.

Twitter has shed about 80 per cent of its employees since Mr Musk took over last year, CNBC reported last month, citing internal records it had seen.

About 75 of the company’s 1,300 employees are on leave, including about 40 engineers, the report said.

However, Mr Musk tweeted that the CNBC report was incorrect and there are about 2,300 active, working employees at Twitter.

Mr Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last October after tumultuous months of back and forth during which he questioned the numbers of users on the social media platform but finally relented as a drawn-out litigation process neared.

He cut thousands of jobs after acquiring Twitter, saying that it was losing $4 million a day and advertisers were fleeing the microblogging platform.

Technology companies cutting thousands of jobs — in pictures

Twitter has cut more than 3,000 jobs since Elon Musk purchased the social media company, with some of the firings happening in the eye of the public. 'Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,' Mr Musk tweeted. AFP
Twitter has cut more than 3,000 jobs since Elon Musk purchased the social media company, with some of the firings happening in the eye of the public. 'Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,' Mr Musk tweeted. AFP
A robot retrieves a pallet of items for employees to sort at an Amazon warehouse. The e-commerce company plans to cut about 10,000 jobs and the lay-offs have started, chief executive Andy Jassy said. Bloomberg
A robot retrieves a pallet of items for employees to sort at an Amazon warehouse. The e-commerce company plans to cut about 10,000 jobs and the lay-offs have started, chief executive Andy Jassy said. Bloomberg
Facebook parent Meta is cutting 11,000 jobs, the first major round of layoffs in the social-media company’s history. 'I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here,' said Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, pictured. AP
Facebook parent Meta is cutting 11,000 jobs, the first major round of layoffs in the social-media company’s history. 'I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here,' said Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, pictured. AP
Hewlett-Packard expects to cut up to 6,000 jobs by the end of the 2025 fiscal year, or about 12 per cent of its global workforce, as computer sales slide amid consumer budget constraints. AFP
Hewlett-Packard expects to cut up to 6,000 jobs by the end of the 2025 fiscal year, or about 12 per cent of its global workforce, as computer sales slide amid consumer budget constraints. AFP
Apple, the iPhone maker, has paused hiring for many jobs outside of research and development, an escalation of its plan to reduce budgets heading into next year. AFP
Apple, the iPhone maker, has paused hiring for many jobs outside of research and development, an escalation of its plan to reduce budgets heading into next year. AFP
Digital banking start-up Chime Financial is cutting 12 per cent of its staff, or 160 people. A representative of the company said Chime remains well-capitalised and the move will position it for 'sustained success'. Reuters
Digital banking start-up Chime Financial is cutting 12 per cent of its staff, or 160 people. A representative of the company said Chime remains well-capitalised and the move will position it for 'sustained success'. Reuters
Cisco Systems is beginning a restructuring plan that will affect about 5 per cent of employees. The company says it will incur pretax charges of about $600 million for severance, termination and other costs. The employees will be given a chance to move to other jobs within the company, chief financial officer Scott Herren said. AFP
Cisco Systems is beginning a restructuring plan that will affect about 5 per cent of employees. The company says it will incur pretax charges of about $600 million for severance, termination and other costs. The employees will be given a chance to move to other jobs within the company, chief financial officer Scott Herren said. AFP
Dapper Labs founder and chief executive Roham Gharegozlou said in a letter to employees that the company had laid off 22 per cent of its staff. He cited macroeconomic conditions and operational challenges stemming from the company’s rapid growth. Dapper Labs created the NBA Top Shot marketplace for nonfungible tokens, a digital asset class that has suffered a steep drop in demand since the cryptocurrency market downturn. Reuters
Dapper Labs founder and chief executive Roham Gharegozlou said in a letter to employees that the company had laid off 22 per cent of its staff. He cited macroeconomic conditions and operational challenges stemming from the company’s rapid growth. Dapper Labs created the NBA Top Shot marketplace for nonfungible tokens, a digital asset class that has suffered a steep drop in demand since the cryptocurrency market downturn. Reuters
Intel is cutting jobs and slowing spending on new plants to save $3 billion next year, the chip maker said. The hope is to save as much as $10 billion by 2025. The headcount reduction could be in the thousands. Reuters
Intel is cutting jobs and slowing spending on new plants to save $3 billion next year, the chip maker said. The hope is to save as much as $10 billion by 2025. The headcount reduction could be in the thousands. Reuters
Lyft's cost-saving efforts include divesting its vehicle service business. It is eliminating 13 per cent of staff, or about 683 people. The company had already said it would freeze hiring in the US until at least next year. Reuters
Lyft's cost-saving efforts include divesting its vehicle service business. It is eliminating 13 per cent of staff, or about 683 people. The company had already said it would freeze hiring in the US until at least next year. Reuters
Peloton laid off 500 employees globally, or about 12 per cent of the workforce, in October. It was the fourth time this year the company has cut staff. Along with other expense reduction measures, Peloton said the move will help it reach the break-even point on cash flow by the end of the 2023 fiscal year. Reuters
Peloton laid off 500 employees globally, or about 12 per cent of the workforce, in October. It was the fourth time this year the company has cut staff. Along with other expense reduction measures, Peloton said the move will help it reach the break-even point on cash flow by the end of the 2023 fiscal year. Reuters
Qualcomm has frozen hiring in response to a faster-than-feared decline in demand for phones, which use its chips. It now expects smartphone shipments to decline in the double-digit per cent range this year, worse than the outlook it gave earlier. Reuters
Qualcomm has frozen hiring in response to a faster-than-feared decline in demand for phones, which use its chips. It now expects smartphone shipments to decline in the double-digit per cent range this year, worse than the outlook it gave earlier. Reuters
Salesforce is focusing on margins as demand for its software products slows. The company has cut hundreds of workers from sales teams as it looks to improve profitability. Since 2017, Salesforce had almost tripled its workforce. AP
Salesforce is focusing on margins as demand for its software products slows. The company has cut hundreds of workers from sales teams as it looks to improve profitability. Since 2017, Salesforce had almost tripled its workforce. AP
Payments company Stripe, one of the world’s most valuable start-ups, is cutting more than 1,000 jobs. The 14 per cent staff reduction will return its headcount to about 7,000. Co-founders Patrick, pictured, and John Collison told staff that they needed to trim expenses more broadly to prepare for 'leaner times'. Bloomberg
Payments company Stripe, one of the world’s most valuable start-ups, is cutting more than 1,000 jobs. The 14 per cent staff reduction will return its headcount to about 7,000. Co-founders Patrick, pictured, and John Collison told staff that they needed to trim expenses more broadly to prepare for 'leaner times'. Bloomberg

In November, Twitter laid off about 3,700 employees in a cost-cutting measure.

The latest job cuts aim to offset a plunge in revenue following Mr Musk’s takeover and further whittle down staff that had shrunk by at least 70 per cent to roughly 2,000, The Information reported.

In November, Mr Musk said that the service was experiencing a “massive drop in revenue” as advertisers pulled spending amid concerns about content moderation.

“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists,” Mr Musk said in a tweet on November 4.

The San Francisco-based company recently auctioned many items as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

A bird logo statue from Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters sold for $100,000 in an auction held by Heritage Global Partners. The auction also featured furniture, decorations, kitchen equipment and electronics, with more than 600 items up for sale.

Another method to raise revenue that has been under consideration is to put popular usernames up for auction, the New York Times reported.

Mr Musk also launched the Twitter Blue subscription service, which allows subscribers to edit tweets, upload 1080p videos and get a blue tick account verification in exchange for a monthly fee.

Before Mr Musk acquired Twitter last year, the company’s employee headcount stood at about 7,500.

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