It's turning out to be another day, another revelation for Elon Musk's Twitter, with the Tesla CEO reportedly scrambling to rehire laid-off employees and apparently even discussing putting the whole platform behind a paywall.
The news comes two weeks after Musk's controversial $44 billion Twitter takeover on October 27, though current employees are allegedly yet to hear any official word from their new CEO.
More than 3,700 Twitter staff were laid off on Friday (November 4) at 09:00 AM, prompting a lawsuit from several employees who argue that this was in breach of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, as previously reported.
Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, told Bloomberg: "We filed this lawsuit tonight in an attempt to make sure that employees are aware that they should not sign away their rights and that they have an avenue for pursuing their rights."
Soon after, Twitter's former CEO Jack Dorsey, tweeted: "Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient.
"They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."
However, laying off 50% of Twitter's workforce has now backfired, as managers are now reportedly scrambling to re-hire former employees. The Verge even reported that some managers were asked to submit two sentences about their employees: one sentence explaining the employee's job description, and another detailing why their employment should be continued at Twitter.
"Managers agonized over the decisions and jockeyed with their peers in an effort to preserve employment for the most vulnerable among them: pregnant women, employees who have cancer, and workers on visas among them," The Verge revealed.
Within hours, however, some managers were asked to re-hire some of their old employees, with one even taking to a public Slack channel: "Sorry to @- everybody on the weekend but I wanted to pass along that we have the opportunity to ask folks that were left off if they will come back. I need to put together names and rationales by 4 PM PST on Sunday."
"I'll do some research but if any of you have been in contact with folks who might come back and who we think will help us, please nominate before 4 [...] I think we might use some Android and iOS help," the message continued, via The Verge.
If that wasn't mortifying enough for Twitter, Musk has allegedly begun discussions surrounding placing the whole platform behind a paywall. This week has already seen the rollout of Twitter Blue, which enables users to buy the coveted blue checkmarks for $7.99 a month, though, this could pave the way for subscription fees for all users.
As of this week, nothing has been confirmed, however The Verge reported that several meetings have been held to discuss potential options - including allowing users to use Twitter for a limited time for free, before requiring a monthly subscription to continue using the platform.
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