"Notification to Dismissed Employees on the 4th"
Half of Staff Reduced, No More Days Off or Remote Work
[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who acquired Twitter, has begun a high-intensity restructuring that cuts the workforce by half, and is now eliminating employee leave policies and ending remote work. This is interpreted as a plan to focus on cost reduction through organizational restructuring and improving corporate efficiency.
On the 3rd (local time), Bloomberg reported that CEO Musk decided to abolish the monthly leave system that Twitter introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. A source familiar with the matter said, "Musk has removed leave days from Twitter employees' calendars."
The outlet described the elimination of employee leave as "another sign that Musk cannot tolerate Twitter's existing work culture." Compared to Tesla, which has demonstrated a disciplined management style under Musk's leadership, Twitter's decentralized management style, especially after the founder stepped away from management, is interpreted as being perceived as alien within the company culture.
Furthermore, Bloomberg reported that Musk plans to cancel Twitter's remote work policy and require employees who are not subject to layoffs to return to the office for full-time work.
Earlier reports indicated that Musk plans to reduce Twitter's workforce by about 3,700 employees, which is half of the total staff. Foreign media reported that Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion and has been criticized for overpaying, is planning large-scale layoffs to cut costs. It was also added that the goal is to notify those affected by layoffs on the 4th.
As news of imminent layoffs spread, The Washington Post (WP) reported that the atmosphere inside the company became unsettled after it was revealed that Musk made his official schedule on Google Calendar publicly accessible to all employees.
At 3 p.m. the previous day, an event titled "RIF Review" appeared on Musk's Google Calendar. On Slack, Twitter's internal messenger, a channel was created to calculate severance pay for departing employees. Because of this, rumors that mass layoffs cutting half the workforce would be carried out on the 4th are becoming a reality, deepening employees' concerns, WP reported.
WP evaluated, "Musk's Trump-style management is making employees awaiting layoffs nervous."
One employee said, "Twitter's internal culture seems to have completely changed overnight. The remaining employees are suffering from layoff trauma."
Previously, Musk attempted to diversify the revenue structure, which relied solely on advertising, by changing the business model, including raising the subscription fee for the existing paid service "Twitter Blue" from $4.99 to $8. If the $8 monthly paid service is successfully established, Twitter could generate an additional $4.1 million (about 580 million KRW) in annual revenue.
Currently, Twitter's main source of revenue is tweet advertising from corporate accounts. Twitter generated $5.1 billion in revenue last year, with about 89% coming from advertising services. Although Twitter's corporate value was estimated at $44 billion, it still lacks a significant revenue model outside of advertising.
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