Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Elon Musk has reportedly fired more employees from Twitter. The company axed part of its infrastructure division as of Friday night, according to The Information. The extent of the layoffs is unclear, but some engineers told Twitter yesterday that they were emailed saying their contribution was no longer required. The latest cuts come after the New York Times reported on Tuesday that Musk had fired Nelson Abramson, Twitter’s head of infrastructure, as well as a handful of other senior employees at the company.
And that was my last day on Twitter. Canceled via email. The experience was indescribable from chaos to hilarious.
— Dave Beckett (@dajobe) December 17, 2022
Twitter did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. Since the start of the downsizing, the company has not had a communications team. The Information estimates that Twitter’s headcount has shrunk by about 75 percent since Musk acquired the company in late October. The social media site employed around 7,500 people under former CEO Parag Agrawal. Twitter’s internal Slack listed around 2,000 employees a week ago, according to the outlet. In November, Musk reportedly said what was left of the company’s workforce Twitter would not be laying off any more employees. The commitment came after the billionaire’s “extremely harsh” ultimatum prompted at least 1,200 resignations.
Additional casualties on the team responsible for keeping Twitter up and running will likely add to fears of how unreliable the site could become in the near future. At the same time, the move could further alienate Tesla investors, who have already factored in how much time Musk spends on Twitter. According to The Information, Musk hired Tesla engineer Sheen Austin to lead the social media site’s infrastructure team after Abramson’s departure.
The layoffs also point to the seemingly precarious financial position Twitter has found itself in since Musk took over. In recent weeks, Elon and other executives have reportedly discussed the possible consequences of denial of severance pay for the thousands of people who have been laid off from the company in recent weeks. The company is also behind on rent on its San Francisco headquarters and network of global satellite offices.
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