Twitter tells employees there are no plans for layoffs

Twitter Inc on Thursday clarified to staff that there are no plans for company-wide layoffs since it signed a deal to be acquired by billionaire Elon Musk, after a media outlet reported that Musk is considering layoffs at the company.

Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett emailed employees on Thursday saying the company does not plan layoffs, according to a source who viewed the email.

The Washington Post reported earlier on Thursday that Elon Musk told prospective investors in his deal to buy Twitter that he planned to get rid of nearly 75% of the company’s 7,500 workers, citing interviews and documents.

The job cuts are expected in the coming months, no matter who owns the company, according to the Washington Post report.

Twitter’s current management planned to pare the company’s payroll by about $800 million by the end of next year, a number that would mean the departure of nearly a quarter of the workforce, the report said.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Human resources staff at the social media company have told employees that they were not planning for mass layoffs, but documents showed extensive plans to push out staff and cut down on infrastructure costs were already in place before Musk offered to buy the company, the Washington Post reported.

Musk had tried to walk away from the deal to buy Twitter in May alleging the company understated the number of bot and spam accounts on the social media platform, which started a series of lawsuits between the two parties.

Earlier this month, Musk reversed course and said he will proceed with the deal on original terms.