Twitter on Thursday said it has laid off 30 percent of its talent acquisition team, affecting lesser than 100 employees of the social media company. The layoffs come amidst an ongoing hiring freeze and an impending $44-billion acquisition by billionaire entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Twitter said that the decision comes as a result of the micro-blogging platform’s revised business needs, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Several laid-off employees took to LinkedIn to express their shock at the sudden discharge.
Back in May, Twitter announced that it would be freezing hirings in order to cut costs. Since hiring would be put on hold, the company decided to reduce its talent acquisition team.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to Wall Street Journal, and added that the company is reprioritising its talent acquisition team.
“I am overwhelmed; nervous and anxious but trying to stay optimistic of the future,” posted Amber Pilcher-Smith on LinkedIn, who was laid off from Twitter’s recruitment team. “My initial feelings were anger and frustration. I was angry because not only was this the second time I’ve been a part of a layoff but this time around; I have an infant son.”
In the meantime, Musk has renewed his threat to call off the Twitter deal altogether. He reportedly sent a letter to Twitter, accusing the company of "actively resisting and thwarting his information rights" as outlined by the deal. The letter has been sent to Twitter's head of legal, policy and trust, Vijaya Gadde.
"This is a clear material breach of Twitter's obligations under the merger agreement and Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement," Musk’s letter reportedly said.