- Elon Musk’s Twitter notified thousands of employees via email that they had been laid off.
- The workers were fired overnight, but without formal notice of their employment status.
- The emails sent were direct and with different key details depending on the region, leaving people confused.
Twitter informs its employees by e-mail if they have been terminated. With different emails to ex-workers depending on their location.
Twitter employees hit by mass layoffs under new owner Elon Musk have begun to realize they’ve lost their jobs late Thursday evening, as Insider first reported. As the company had told them earlier in the day they could expect a “downsizing” which will begin on Friday morning – after Insider reported such plans — the cuts started suddenly, with employees no longer having access to work tools like email and Slack.
It was only Friday morning that the employees received a promised communication formalizing their dismissal. And as Twitter employees in different US states and parts of the world received memos that said different things about their job status and what they could expect in terms of severance packages, depending on who was affected by the dismissals.
This different communication sparked another wave of confusion, according to numerous posts between former employees seen by Insider.
“Once again we are in limbo,” said one person affected by the layoffs.
People working in Europe, India, Singapore, New York and California, for example, all received dismissal notices that appeared to be written to comply with each region’s labor laws.
Residents of New York should be offered three months of severance pay, according to memos sent to people there, while residents of California will receive two months of severance pay. According to state laws, covered by the Worker Adjustment and Relocation Notification Regulations, workers in California must receive 60 days notice of mass termination or equivalent compensation. In New York, it’s 90 days.
Meanwhile, in Europe, where labor laws are stricter and often require employers to negotiate with laid-off employees, Twitter employees have received boilerplate emails saying, “Your role at Twitter has been identified as potentially impacted or at risk of being fired”. What, if any, severance pay these employees would be paid was still being worked out, the emails added.
Laid-off Twitter employees around the world have yet to receive any official severance package detailing what they will be offered. But a document attached to the dismissal notice notes they received says the more detailed documents are expected to be sent to workers within the next week and that there will be “no negotiation” over the proposed terms.
Many workers also received different explanations of what they could expect beyond severance pay, such as company stock payouts or a pro-rated bonus they had previously been told. to wait, according to posts reviewed by Insider. Some were told they would receive payment for their shares on an accelerated vesting schedule, while others were not, according to the messages reviewed. Meanwhile, several affected workers told Insider on Friday that they were consulting with attorneys.
Overall, the emails sent to Twitter employees who were terminated from Twitter were direct. Below is one of the memos Insider obtained from an employee in New York, titled “Your role on Twitter:”
Hello,
As shared earlier today, Twitter is downsizing to help improve the health of the business. These decisions are never easy and it is with regret that we write to let you know that your role at Twitter has been impacted.
Today is your last day working for the company, however, you will remain employed by Twitter and will receive compensation and benefits until your departure date of February 2, 2023.
During this period, you will be on a non-working notice period and your access to the Twitter systems will be disabled. Although you are not expected to work during the non-work notice period, you are still required to comply with all company policies, including the employee handbook and code of conduct.
Within a week, you will receive details of your starting offer, with financial resources extending beyond your non-working notice period. At that time, you will also receive a Separation Agreement and Waiver of Claims and other onboarding information, such as how to return your Twitter hardware (computer, badge, etc.).
Attached is an FAQ which aims to answer a number of questions you may have. If your questions are not answered in the FAQ, you can contact us via [redacted]@twitter.com.
We remain grateful for all you have done for Twitter throughout your tenure and wish you the best for your next chapter.
Thanks.
Are you a Twitter employee or someone else with ideas to share? Contact Kali Hays at khays@insider.com, on the secure messaging app Signal at 949-280-0267, or via Twitter DM at @hayskali. Reach out using a non-professional device.
Contact Grace Kay from an unprofessional email at gkay@insider.com