Elon Musk says a “massive drop” in revenue is behind job cuts at Twitter following his takeover.
The billionaire’s accused “activist groups” of pressuring advertisers to leave the social media site.
There’s reports that as many as half of the 7,500 people employed by the company could be losing their jobs.
The social media company is slashing up to half of its global workforce, including some of the 500 staff in Ireland.
Staff have been receiving emails informing them if they’re in or out. Twitters offices around the world have been closed for today, while they go through the process.
CEO Musk who splashed $44b on the platform has proposed charging users $8 a month to retain their verified status as part of business restructuring for the ailing indebted platform.
The blue tick mark next to a username is currently free, but is typically reserved for high-profile figures and users who have been verified as trustworthy sources.
Some staff in the US have filed lawsuits against the company for claims it breached employment law.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin says the employees deserved to be treated with more dignity and respect ”We are concerned and our concern is there for the employees of Twitter. It has changed ownership and globally there seems to be a fairly unprecedented approach being adopted here, manifesting itself here in Ireland. What I would say is fundamentally that no matter who you are and what sector you are in, one must always treat people with dignity and respect, and the employees of Twitter deserve to be treated with respect.”
Solicitor Richard Grogan thinks staff impacted in Ireland could take a case against the company for the way they’ve been treated: ”It’s not saying that one person is going to go and another person is going to be kept. You have to notify all of the staff in those circumstances and you then have to go through the proper consultation process.”
