First employees, now contract workers; Twitter layoffs continue

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Twitter has begun firing contract workers as part of mass layoffs under its new owner, Elon Musk, according to the Axios news website, citing sources.

In late October, The Washington Post reported that Musk planned to lay off 25% of the Twitter workforce in an initial round of cuts after his takeover of the company.

Prior to this, the media outlet reported, citing corporate documents, that the entrepreneur intended to fire 75% of Twitter employees, but Musk denied the reports.

According to the Axios report, Twitter also laid off some of its contract workers who were in charge of various tasks, such as content moderation.

It revealed that the social media platform fired many full-time employees who signed off on time cards, so the contractors are concerned about receiving their final salary.

The news portal also stated that the company had been attempting to re-hire its former employees following mass layoffs because it recognized the importance of their skills.

Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion on October 28 after months of negotiations and legal battles with the company over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform, which the entrepreneur believed was much higher than the company reported.

Following the purchase, the billionaire began mass layoffs to optimize expenses.

Musk fired Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde after completing the acquisition of the social media network. The US billionaire also announced the formation of a special council "with widely diverse viewpoints" to moderate the platform.

It is worth mentioning that Twitter Inc. let off more than 90% of its employees in India over the weekend, as part of Elon Musk's global layoffs, significantly depleting its engineering and product personnel in a prospective growth region.

The company employed slightly over 200 workers in India, and the cuts reduced it to about a dozen employees, according to persons familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the situation.

According to one source, over 70% of the employees cut in India were from the product and engineering team, which worked on a worldwide mandate. Positions were also reduced in functions, such as marketing, public policy, and corporate communications, according to the sources. Twitter, situated in San Francisco, California, decreased its global workforce by almost half, or approximately 3,700 employees.