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

washingtonpost.com

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

#261

> 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.

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 %.

Well to be honest, Musk and his team looked at quantity/quality of code produced in the last 60 days, with hopefully a 10 minute chance to defend their lack of quantity/quality.

Lots of coasters in big companies can get with good rating just be being on the good side of manager/peers and even get Bonus points if you are vocal about DEI and activism.

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

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Do Twitter employees have a safe place to discuss this?

>Do Twitter employees have a safe place to discuss this?

How did people communicate before the invention of Twitter and employer provided email and slack channels?

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

#264
post #65

Twitter is already improved IMHO: The "sign in or sign up" nag screen is gone for me!

I looked at Musk's feed and it did not appear, but just now clicked on one of the other Twitter links in this thread and got hit with it almost immediately. Maybe the change is still being rolled out? Maybe it was just a fluke? Maybe it doesn't appear on certain people's feeds for one reason or another?

[deleted]

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

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Not providing severance pay at all is perfectly legal. In most cases, an employer will want at least something in return for providing severance pay.

Why do they provide it then? Out of goodwill?

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

#266
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For salaried, at-will employment, the employer can demand whatever they want and fire you for whatever reason they want. There are exceptions for, like, sexual harassment and racial discrimination, but not for "I disagree with the boss about what is a realistic project timeline".

> the employer can demand whatever they want and fire you for whatever reason they want In the US. I'm glad I work in a country where workers actually have rights.

It means if you lose out on a job to a less qualified person there is much less chance it ever gets rectified in your favor.

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

#267

> 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.

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 %.

They should probably take a look at the lawsuit around Tesla's illegal layoffs. Your description sounds similar to that.

It's probably worth it to find a labor attorney.

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

#268

> 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.

I dunno. WaPo isn't the best of new reporting agencies [0], but it's certainly not the worst. They do have standards and they don't make up the large majority of their data. Meaning, they have actually talked to someone that is 'familiar' with the 'deal' at some point 'last week.' It's not pure speculation on WaPo's part, though it maybe pure-unrefined-grade-A speculation on the contact's part. If I had to bet, and m…

Honestly, that isn't a super convincing source. Every news outlet has a criticism section. For an almost 150 year old organization, that is pretty sparse. Even better some of things in there are non-issues like "Trump repeatedly railed against The Washington Post on his Twitter account." Who didn't he tweet "fake news" at?

News agencies are organizations made of humans that have flaws and we should always treat with a critical eye. But we shouldn't just dismiss one out of hand as not one of the best because of the existence of a "Criticism and controversies" section on Wikipedia especially when it is FAR tamer than many mainstream competitors.

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

#269
post #19

Twitter now owes about $1 billlion in debit payments per year. Cash flow last year $630 million. I think 25% staff reductions is just a starting point.

I'm constantly shocked that "leveraged buyouts" are a thing. It seems like taking a business and loading it up with debt is a recipe for failure that would introduce a lot of risk for the lender, but banks and other capital holders continue issuing the debt.

I cannot fathom it either. First I heard that it was a thing was when the Glazers borrowed money to buy Manchester United then saddled them with half of the debt. They had no debt prior to being purchased. I don't know how common it is, but it feels like you're telegraphing that you're going to use the organization you bought as a piggy bank or a plaything. Like, see this shit (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glazer_ownership_of_Manchester...)

    From 2016, the Glazers paid themselves annual dividends from the club, at over
    £20 million every year from 2016 to 2020. In that same period, the club's debt
    repayments "all but ceased", described The Daily Telegraph, while interest 
    payments continued. While paying dividends was common in business, 
    Manchester United were the sole Premier League club to "pay regular 
    dividends of any kind", reported The Daily Telegraph in May 2021
I don't even like Man Utd, but that's shady as hell
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