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Thousands of Twitter employees have been sacked by email as new owner Elon Musk takes over.
Twitter has been losing large sums of money on a daily basis for some time and so the need for redundancies and streamlining should come as no surprise. However, with up to 3,700 people – around half the total number of staff – in the line of fire, the news of redundancies (and how they were carried out) has caused understandable concern.
A word of warning was sent to staff on the Thursday evening stating “In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday.
“We recognise that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.”
Twitter employees in California received one of two emails.
One notifies the staff members that Friday November 4 is their “last working day at the company” but says they will continue to receive their salary and other benefits up until February.
An alternative email informs the staff member their role is “not impacted by today’s workforce reduction” and promising to share more information next week.
Some staff members were given indications of their impending redundancy before the emails were sent. For others, the news came as a shock.
Employees are also struggling with control of their Twitter accounts following their firing.
Debates around the brutality of the method used to notify its employees of their job status abound. Some supporters however have stated that email and video calls are arguably an effective way to notify large groups of people of any change.
Employment laws are very different in the US however. In the UK, employment legislation requires companies to carry out a formal consultation process before any decisions on redundancies are made. This can include appointing employee representatives in collective redundancy situations. Additionally, where more than 20 employees are being made redundant, companies are required to report their intentions to the Insolvency Service first.
At Aston Bond, we believe following a fair process works to protect employees and, ultimately, the business too. We understand that employment law is a fast-moving area of the law, so we ensure that our advice to is accurate, concise and constructive. We offer realistic solutions to suit you whatever your situation, and ensure you do not fall foul of the law.
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