Twitter temporarily closes offices as layoffs begin

Nov 4 (Reuters) – Twitter Inc temporarily closed its offices and cut workers access to internal systems on Friday after telling employees they would be informed by email later in the day about whether they were being laid off.

The move follows a week of uncertainty about the company’s future under new owner Elon Musk.

The social media company said in an email to staff it would tell them by 9 a.m. Pacific time on Friday (12 p.m. EDT/1600 GMT) about staff cuts.

“In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” said the email sent on Thursday, seen by Reuters.

Musk, the world’s richest person, is looking to cut around 3,700 Twitter staff, or about half the workforce, as he seeks to slash costs and impose a demanding new work ethic, according to internal plans reviewed by Reuters this week.

The company’s content moderation team is expected to be impacted, according to tweets by Twitter staff.

Musk has promised to restore free speech while preventing Twitter from descending into a “hellscape”. However, his reassurances have failed to prevent major advertisers from threatening to withdraw from the platform.

Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) has recommended its brands to pause paid advertising on Twitter until further notice in the wake of Musk’s takeover, it said on Friday. Its comments echoed similar remarks from other firms, including General Motors (GM.N) and General Mills (GIS.N).

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ACCESS TO SYSTEMS CUT

Twitter’s ‘Curation’ team, which is responsible for “highlighting and contextualizing the best events and stories that unfold on Twitter”, has been axed, employees said on the platform. The company’s communications team in India has also been laid off, according to a Twitter executive in Asia.

Some staff reported losing access to internal systems and being unable to message goodbyes to colleagues.

“Looks like I’m unemployed y’all. Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack,” tweeted a user with the account @SBkcrn, whose profile is described as former senior community manager at Twitter.

Twitter employees vented their frustrations about the layoffs on the social network, using the hashtag #OneTeam.

User Rachel Bonn tweeted: “Last Thursday in the SF (San Francisco) office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old. Just got cut off from laptop access.”

Responding to the #OneTeam thread, Twitter’s Head of Safety & Integrity Yoel Roth, said: “Tweeps: My DMs (direct message routes) are always open to you. Tell me how I can help.”

Roth was the most senior executive to message publicly with a tweet of support for staff who are losing their jobs. He also appeared to still have his job. Last week, Musk…