Twitter Lays off ‘30 Percent’ of Recruitment Staff as Musk Takeover Fracas Continues

Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Social media giant Twitter laid off 30 percent of its talent acquisition team on Friday amid businessman Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover, according to multiple reports.

Roughly a third of the talent acquisition team was affected by the decision, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch.

Twitter employs more than 7,000 people globally and the layoffs impacted less than 100 people, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed the layoffs to Business Insider, although the exact number of employees affected was not provided. The spokesperson added that the layoffs were done to “align Twitter with its new business needs,” according to the publication.

Those employees now out of a job will receive severance packages, of which exact details were not provided, a spokesperson confirmed to Tech Crunch, and the company will “reprioritize” remaining recruitment staff due to decreased hiring.

The Epoch Times has contacted a Twitter spokesperson for comment.

The latest layoffs come just two months after Twitter said it was pausing companywide hirings and backfills, except for business-critical roles, a move that is being followed by multiple firms in recent months as fears over an impending recession mount.

Meta, Netflix, Uber, Salesforce, Snap, Paypal, Getir, and Musk’s own Tesla have cut down on hiring or laid off workers in recent months as inflation soars and the outlook for the economy looks increasingly negative.

‘Being Responsible And Efficient’

In May alone, more than 15,000 tech workers were laid off, according to a TechCrunch analysis.

“We are pulling back on non-labor costs to ensure we are being responsible and efficient,” Twitter spokesperson Adrian Zamora told The Verge in May.

In that same month, two executives left the company ahead of Musk’s announced planned takeover: head of consumer product of Twitter, Kayvon Beykpour, and revenue product lead, Bruce Falck.

At the time, Beykpour wrote in a series of Twitter posts that it wasn’t his decision to leave the company after seven years, adding that he was currently on paternity leave.

“The truth is that this isn’t how and when I imagined leaving Twitter, and this wasn’t my decision,” Beykpour wrote. “Parag [CEO Parag Agrawal] asked me to leave after letting me know that he wants to take the team in a different direction.”

Following their exits, Agrawal, who assumed the role of CEO in December after Jack Dorsey stepped down, said he “expects” the deal with Musk to close but that Twitter needs “to be prepared for all scenarios and always do what’s right for Twitter.”

“I’m accountable for leading and operating Twitter, and our job is to build a stronger Twitter every day,” he wrote on Twitter. “Our industry is in a very challenging macro environment—right now. I won’t use the deal as an excuse to avoid making important decisions for the health of the company, nor will any leader at Twitter.”

The CEO added that Twitter users and shareholders can expect “more change for the better” going forward.

Bot Dispute

Meanwhile, Musk’s acquisition of the platform remains in limbo amid a dispute over exactly how many automated bot accounts are on Twitter.

In May, Musk said he was putting the deal “on hold” until Twitter provides him with data stating the exact number of bot accounts, which he estimates to be up to 90 percent.

Twitter states that fewer than 5 percent of its accounts are fake.

Musk also hinted at further Twitter layoffs during a Town Hall with staff members last month, noting that “right now, costs exceed revenue. That’s not a great situation.”