‘Twitter will try to rehire some employees that were let go’: Elon Musk acknowledges excessive layoffs

Elon Musk has made significant changes at Twitter since taking over the social media platform. In a recent statement, Musk expressed his intention to rehire some of the employees who were let go during the company's restructuring, acknowledging that the job cuts were excessive.

Under Musk's leadership, Twitter's headcount has been reduced by a staggering 80 per cent, from 7,800 to approximately 1,500 employees. This reduction was part of Musk's strategy to cut costs and steer the company towards profitability. However, during an interview with CNBC’s David Faber following the 2023 Tesla annual shareholder meeting, Musk admitted that some of the individuals who were laid off should not have been included in the downsizing.

Musk recognised that the decision to downsize rapidly was driven by the urgency of the company's financial situation. He stated, "Desperate times call for desperate measures... Unfortunately, if you do it fast, there are some babies who will be thrown out." In light of this, Twitter is now planning to bring back some of the employees who were let go, he added, indicating a course correction.

Addressing the appointment of Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, as CEO of Twitter, Musk expressed confidence in her abilities. He stated that Linda would be responsible for the company's operations while he focused on building innovative products. Given Twitter's heavy reliance on advertising revenue, Musk highlighted Yaccarino's expertise in this area, emphasising that his own skills and interests lie primarily in technology.

Also read: 'Twitter 2.0': Elon Musk's Twitter CEO pick Linda Yaccarino on future of the platform

Musk also shed light on the challenging financial circumstances Twitter faced when he acquired the company. At the time of the deal's completion, Twitter had a negative cash flow of $3 billion, with only $1 billion in available cash. The board initially resisted Musk's takeover bid, leading to a legal battle that compelled Musk to honour the terms of his offer. Recounting the situation, Musk stated, "Basically, they had a gun to my head saying, 'No, you must acquire us!'"

Since the takeover in October 2022, Twitter's ad revenue experienced a drastic decline of up to 50 per cent, according to Musk. Consequently, he revised the valuation of the company to $20 billion, a significant reduction from the $44 billion price tag at the time of acquisition.

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