Things are definitely still not looking cheery over at Twitter, as new CEO Elon Musk defends his decision to lay off up to 3,700 employees.
Yesterday, it was reported that mass layoffs were taking place at the social media giant, after staff received a memo warning them that their jobs were at risk.
Now, Musk has claimed that the layoffs are necessary for the company's survival, with the billionaire allegeding that Twitter is currently losing $4 million a day.
On Friday (November 4) the Tesla CEO attempted to quell the fallout from Twitter's mass layoffs by tweeting: "Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day."
"Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required," he added.
Musk, 51, finally acquired the social media platform last week, after first beginning the takeover back in spring - yet this process has been far from drama-free.
Moreover, major international corporations - such as Volkswagen, Pfizer, Toblerone maker Mondelez International, and Betty Crocker owner General Mills - have pulled their paid advertising from Twitter, as previously reported. In fact, Musk blamed activist groups for trying to "destroy free speech in the United States" after Twitter suffered a "massive drop in revenue".
Over the last nine days, the world's richest man has also dissolved the board of directors - appointing himself Twitter's sole director - and announced that users in the future will have to pay $8-a-month for the platform's coveted blue verified badge.
The South African native's tweet about the company's mass layoffs have done little to quieten the public outrage that has followed.
The terminations were announced in a company-wide email earlier this week, which revealed those who had lost their jobs would be notified via email by Friday (November 4) at 09:00AM.
"We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward," the email allegedly informed employees, per The Wall Street Journal.
However, by Thursday (November 3), several recently fired employees from Twitter had already filed a lawsuit in San Francisco, court documents have shown.
The attorney who filed the lawsuit, Shannon Liss-Riordan, 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."
Liss-Riordan argued that Twitter was in breach of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) - which holds that major corporations are not allowed to conduct mass layoffs without first giving an advance notice of 60 days. The court filings reveal that one employee, who had their contract terminated on November 1, was not adequately warned pursuant to this Act.
Additionally, since the takeover, multiple celebrities - including Shonda Rhimes, Toni Braxton, and Sara Bareilles - have left the platform.
"I'm shocked and appalled at some of the 'free speech' I've seen on this platform since its acquisition. Hate speech under the veil of 'free speech' is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons and other POC," RnB icon Braxton tweeted.
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