Former CEO says sorry for growing company 'too quickly'
As Elon Musk takes an axe to the Twitter workforce, reports suggest its Australian office will be reduced to a "skeleton" team of mostly ad sales staff.
Among those expected to leave the company's 40-person office are those employees who helped the firm police illegal content after the Christchurch mosque massacre, according to a report by the Financial Review.
Musk, who is also the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has carried out mass lay-offs since he bought the social media company for US$44 billion about two weeks ago. About half Twitter's 7,500 employees are said to be affected but the company hasn't yet publicly outlined who has been terminated in Australia.
Despite its prominence, and several key staff working closely with government and local regulators, Australia remains a relatively small market for Twitter. The company's sale staff generated $14.7 million in revenue last year (a $2 million loss), while the company's global revenue was more than $7.8 billion.
Meanwhile, former Twitter chief executive officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey apologised over the weekend following the massive job cuts.
"I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that," Dorsey said on a tweet. "I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or ever…and I understand."
Dorsey was one of the co-founders of Twitter, alongside Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. He later stepped down in December 2021 to be replaced by Parag Agrawal, who was eventually fired when Musk purchased Twitter.
Read more: Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO
The layoffs included high-profile executives, including two in Twitter Canada, with the least impacted team being the front-line moderation staff.
"Yesterday's reduction in force affected approximately 15% of our Trust & Safety organization (as opposed to approximately 50% cuts company-wide), with our front-line moderation staff experiencing the least impact," said a Twitter official.
Recent reports from Bloomberg News, however, revealed that the company is attempting to recall dozens of employees who lost their jobs following the layoffs.
According to report, which cited sources familiar with the situation, some of the employees laid off were by mistake, while some were cut before their work and experience were recognized as necessary for the company's future.
