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Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

washingtonpost.com

251–260 of 852 posts

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#251

> Another person familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters last week said the total number of layoffs is likely to be closer to 50 percent. Unless I’m missing something, the only sources for this article are a mix of speculation and anonymous sources who can’t even agree with each other about the layoff.

This is mainly media workers exploiting current events for traffic, even if their content is misleading. We really need to sort out media corruption and incompetence.

Washington Post isn't a random blog.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/search/?query=twitter+elon&fa...

Did a quick search of Elon + Twitter. Everything they reported seems factual and tied to things that actually happened? If Twitter does lay off a large amount of people will you admit that Washington Post probably had good sources or continue to be continually skeptical?

I think part of wanting a good media atmosphere is rewarding news sources that are shown to be reliable - and I would argue Washington Post is close to that.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who’s hurt more: the company whose employee leaves on the spot, or the employee whose company fires them on the spot? At-will is asymmetric.

It is the definition of symmetrical. Both parties can cut ties at any time without any warning. In general employers are able to benefit from this symmetrical relationship more often though since they are only losing a small percentage of their workers while the employee is losing 100% of the income they were getting from that employeer.

>It is the definition of symmetrical.

GP was clearly talking about the assymetry of consequences, not the action itself. You intentionally misinterpreted them.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#253
6 months ago it was all painted (maybe seemingly, though, by prior executives who weren't speaking for Musk) as if this wouldn't be a big deal for employees, which to me makes this idea that people are being rapidly fired "for cause" after a suddenly-imposed weekend work shift deadline extra shitty :/. (Even if I do sometimes claim that Twitter is incompetent as an organization or bloated with idle staff, these are humans that deserve some basic respect with how they handle a transition plan.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/25/technology/twitter-employ...

> At the meeting with employees on Monday [April 25], executives tried to assure employees that they wouldn’t be shortchanged by Mr. Musk’s acquisition. Mr. Agrawal told employees that their stock options would convert to cash when the deal with Mr. Musk closes, which he estimated would take between three and six months. Employees would receive their same benefits packages for a year after the deal was finalized and there were no immediate plans for layoffs, he added.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nice thing is that this goes both ways. If you are an at-will employee you can send an email that says "I resign effective immediately" and walk away and never speak to anyone at that company ever again.

Who’s hurt more: the company whose employee leaves on the spot, or the employee whose company fires them on the spot? At-will is asymmetric.

[deleted]

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#255
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank god, I stopped clicking twitter links due to this crap

Reddit and Instagram is even worse. Besides cookie boxes (which all have different UIs and rarely a good no button) it's probably the most annoying thing on an ad-blocked internet. How do the designers who work at these tech companies not understand that repeatedly annoying non-user visitors doesn't make them want to sign up? Nor incentivize others to link to it?

Considering where their revenue comes from, have you considered that they may not want people who run ad-blockers to sign up?

They'll tolerate you if you produce content to help keep the paying users engaged, but plenty of businesses choose not to pursue customers who are unlikely to generate profit.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do Twitter employees have a safe place to discuss this?

Phone, email, and in person are safe if you trust your counterparty?

Personal email, obviously. Never discuss anything of this nature on any communication medium that is owned by your employer. There's a reason "Direct Message" labeling overtook "Private Message" in chat apps.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can verify that Twitter is laying people off. Several contacts at Twitter were laid off this weekend and hoping they I could submit their resumes to my current employer. They were told that these were performance based terminations, despite not receiving any negative evaluations during their time at Twitter. They were also told they needed to sign NDAs in order to receive any severance. Can't confirm the %.

Is requiring an NDA for severance even legal? That's seriously sketchy

The one time I was laid off I had to sign an NDA and a non-compete to get severance. I signed it because it was a decent severance package, and the company was going bankrupt and I figured there would not be any entity left that would care or try to enforce it.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#258
post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll note that a company that depends on a single employee like this has failed to plan and is already in trouble. No matter how well you treat them, your critical employees will leave. You might be able to pay them well enough to limit the risk on them taking another job (though few employers do) but even with that sooner or later they'll win the lottery, get hit by a bus, or just retire. A business can and must hed…

As an example to further illustrate your point, it is possible for a business to purchase key employee insurance. As an employee we do not have the same privilege.

It's just a nitpick and it doesn't impact GP's point all that much, but: surely employees in the US have some sort of job loss insurance - if not standalone, then attached to a mortgage or life insurance?

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#259

> Another person familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters last week said the total number of layoffs is likely to be closer to 50 percent. Unless I’m missing something, the only sources for this article are a mix of speculation and anonymous sources who can’t even agree with each other about the layoff.

Quoted post unavailable.

Are you disagreeing that layoffs are happening at twitter? Elon told investors it would happen, and he needs to increase profit by $1.5B to stop losing money. Layoffs are guaranteed. The question is will it be 25% as reported or 75% as Elon promised. The answer is we can’t know because nobody knows. It’ll probably something in between.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can verify that Twitter is laying people off. Several contacts at Twitter were laid off this weekend and hoping they I could submit their resumes to my current employer. They were told that these were performance based terminations, despite not receiving any negative evaluations during their time at Twitter. They were also told they needed to sign NDAs in order to receive any severance. Can't confirm the %.

Is requiring an NDA for severance even legal? That's seriously sketchy

Not only an NDA - many companies also require you to sign anti-disparagement clauses, meaning you can have severance clawed back if you speak negatively of the company.
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