It has been reported that Elon Musk plans to reduce the headcount of Twitter employees by 75% if his acquisition is successful.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Elon Musk, poised to become Twitter's new owner, is expected to slash jobs in the company.
Analysts said that despite who was taking over Twitter, it was expected that the company would lay off some employees. Twitter has announced a hiring freeze, and the company reportedly has low employee morale.
From reports, Twitter was already planning to announce some job cuts before Elon Musk decided to buy the platform.
If Elon Musk buys Twitter, there might be a wider margin of job layoffs as the 75% job cut is much. Although many other tech giants, such as Meta and Google, have been announcing job layoffs, the margin of such layoffs hasn't been up to 75%.
There are speculations that if Elon Musk buys Twitter and manages his way with the layoffs, Twitter might just be left with about 2,000 employees. This is much more than anybody expected from the world's richest man.
All efforts to reach the representatives of Twitter and Elon Musk have not been successful. Elon Musk, who usually allows the public to know what is going on in his life, has not tweeted or said anything about the recent developments.
Some analysts have reacted to the latest news by saying that the 75% planned layoffs by Elon Musk are very extreme. Others think that if Elon Musk is successful with the layoffs, it could mean more productivity and profit for the billionaire.
"A 75% headcount cut would indicate, at least out of the gates, stronger free cash flow and profitability, which will be attractive to investors looking to get in on the deal," said Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst.
On the other side, many analysts and even some Twitter employees think that if Elon Musk should go and lay off thousands of people, it could affect the company's quality.
Many of those within the 75% will come from the company's content moderation and data security department. If they are laid off without replacement, it could mean that Twitter will become overrun by bots and spam.
Elon Musk Legal Tussle with Twitter
It should be recalled that the major bone of contention between Twitter and Elon Musk was the issue of bots and spam that might reduce the actual number or estimated Twitter users.
As reported by The Guardian, Elon Musk had attempted to walk away from the Twitter deal after accusing the company of misrepresenting the number of bots and fake accounts on the platform.
Twitter sued the CEO of Tesla and said that his claims of the number of fake accounts on the platform were just a way of working out of the deal. According to reports, Twitter also blamed the downhill they have been facing in revenue on the ongoing tussle with Elon Musk.
From what has been reported by several news outlets, it seems like the issue between Elon Musk and Twitter may end on the 28th of October, 2022.
It is said that a Delaware judge handling the case has given them a time limit to settle their differences and move on with the deal. If both sides fail to complete the deal within this time, there may be a full-blown trial in November.