Tipsheet

Twitter Employees Are Panicking As Musk Takeover Nears Finalization

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  October 26, 2022 2:00 PM

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has until Friday to close his deal with Twitter if he wants to avoid going to trial next month, meaning many Twitter employees are nervous their days are numbered, as the billionaire has vowed to cut or replace as many as 75 percent of the social media giant’s workforce.

In an open letter circulating internally, employees lament Musk’s proposed move “will hurt Twitter’s ability to serve the public conversation.”

“A threat of this magnitude is reckless, undermines our users’ and customers’ trust in our platform, and is a transparent act of worker intimidation,” the letter says, according to TIME.

Not content to complain, the employees are demanding he keep all of them if the deal goes through and that he doesn’t discriminate based on political views. 

“We call on Twitter management and Elon Musk to cease these negligent layoff threats,” the letter says. “As workers, we deserve concrete commitments so we can continue to preserve the integrity of our platform.” 

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We demand of current and future leadership:

Respect: We demand leadership to respect the platform and the workers who maintain it by committing to preserving the current headcount.

Safety: We demand that leadership does not discriminate against workers on the basis of their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs. We also demand safety for workers on visas, who will be forced to leave the country they work in if they are laid off.

Protection: We demand Elon Musk explicitly commit to preserve our benefits, those both listed in the merger agreement and not (e.g. remote work). We demand leadership to establish and ensure fair severance policies for all workers before and after any change in ownership.

Dignity: We demand transparent, prompt and thoughtful communication around our working conditions. We demand to be treated with dignity, and to not be treated as mere pawns in a game played by billionaires. (TIME)

The letter is currently anonymous, with employees being told that their signatures won’t be disclosed “unless we have critical mass.”