Musk’s landing at the Twitter offices, with a toilet in his arms and with tweets like “the bird breaks free” either “Comedy is now legal on Twitter”, stirred some of the unknowns about how he will take the reins of the social network, doubts that have been on the table since in the spring he was willing to buy it for more than 40,000 million dollars. Of all of these, two are especially important: how it will affect the contents and how to company.
On Friday, Musk himself shed some light on the first question by announcing a “content moderation council” with a plural profile. He has not provided much information about what it will be like, what role it will hold and what schedule it manages to activate it, but he has assured that he wants to hear it before making editorial decisions, including reestablishing accounts.
Now the information is rushing in that points to the second great unknown: how will its arrival affect the structure of Twitter and, more specifically, to your template. Last week it was leaked that the businessman was considering dispensing with 75% of the company’s staff once he took control, a percentage that Musk himself shortly after would have been responsible for denying.
Clearing unknowns
However, the question of what the real scope of Musk’s plans will be remains unknown. The company’s workforce is around 7,500 employees and, according to Reutersthe previous management had already planned to reduce payroll expenses by 800 million dollars by the end of next year, a “snip” that would be equivalent to the departure of almost a quarter of the workforce.
In May —after a presentation to investors— it was filter target which at least by then Musk managed for the company. As far as the workforce was concerned, the aim was to reach the 11,072 employees by 2025, although with fluctuations during the process. Already then the possibility that the tycoon dispensed with workers after the purchase was pointed out.
Now some of the main American media suggest that Musk has already set in motion the machinery to resize the workforce. And imminently, too. New York Times (TNYT), Bloomberg Y Washington Post (TWP) claim that company managers have been asked to draw up lists of employees on their teams who could be fired.
According to the TWP the cut could be close to 50% and the first affected area would be the one in charge of supervising the content moderationyes Among the managers who have been asked for a list for possible dismissals would be those of the security and privacy sections.
What the three media agree on is that Musk could make a move shortly, in the coming days. One of the handicaps that would precipitate it is that on November 1 the company’s workers receive remuneration in shares that is part of their compensation. From there, ensures TNYTthat layoffs begin to be considered on Saturday itself.
At the level where the arrival of Musk has already been noticed is that of the executive sphere. The tycoon has fired the CEO, Parag Agrawal, and financial director of the company, among other directors. The operation could entail the payment of compensation in the millions, although —points TNYT— Musk alleged just causewhich could complicate it.
The businessman would have also assigned projects to Twitter engineers and some would have received a notification to show the codes they have been working on.
TWP ensures even that on Friday Tesla engineers were evaluating material. Musk himself has come to show his commitment to the company’s technical area: “Software engineering, server operations and design will dominate”, tweeted just a few weeks ago.
