Elon Musk defends Twitter layoffs, says company lost more than $4M per day, employees got severance packages
Musk also tried reassuring his followers that Twitter's 'commitment to content moderation' has not changed amid concerns over how the site will be policed
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Twitter's new owner Elon Musk defended his severe cost-cutting efforts that resulted in layoffs across the company Friday by claiming the social media platform was losing more than $4 million per day and that impacted employees were given generous severance packages.
"Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day," Musk tweeted. "Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required."
The layoffs began with a letter to employees saying about half of the company’s 7,500-person workforce would be losing their jobs. The move is the latest shakeup since Musk finalized the $44 billion purchase of the California-based platform.
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In this photo illustration, a Twitter logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen. Musk defended layoffs at the social media platform on Friday, saying it was losing more than $4 million per day. (Photo Illustration by Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
He immediately fired top executives upon taking control. Twitter employees began posting online about the forthcoming layoffs Thursday evening, saying they had been locked out of their computers and had received notifications about the pending workforce reduction.
A class-action lawsuit was reportedly filed against the company by workers who claimed the layoffs violate federal law requiring 60 days' notice for employees.
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires large companies to notify workers two months in advance of planned job cuts, according to 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," attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who filed the San Francisco lawsuit said, Bloomberg reported.
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In addition to layoffs, Musk has also reportedly removed Twitter's "days of rest" perk from employee calendars and plans to cancel its remote work policy — with some exceptions — and have staff return to the office full-time, according to Bloomberg.
Minutes before tweeting about the layoffs, he reassured his followers about Twitter's content policy amid concerns over a potential increase in hate speech on the platform.
"Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged," he tweeted. "In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press."
Fox Business' Brie Stimson and Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.