Two Canadian executives let go as Musk trims Twitter’s workforce by 50%

Less than a month after acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk is moving ahead with drastic cuts to the social media giant’s headcount, which includes at least two Canadian executives.

The billionaire and new owner is reportedly laying off approximately 3,700 employees, or 50 per cent of the company’s workforce, in a bid to reduce costs.

According to reports, Twitter employs a global workforce of approximately 7,500 people. Around 250 work in Canada.

Staff informed by email

News of the mass layoff was shared with staff through an internal email that was obtained by multiple news outlets, including CBC News and The New York Times.

Details from the email include:

• Twitter is temporarily closing its offices on Nov. 4
• All employee badges have been suspended
• All Twitter staff will receive an individual email by 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 4 explaining what will happen to their job
• All Twitter employees are reminded to not share “confidential company information” on social media or with news outlets

The layoffs come after The Washington Post reported last month that the billionaire and CEO of Tesla was planning on trimming Twitter’s headcount by 75 per cent following the acquisition.

WATCH: An employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP explains how much severance pay Twitter employees in Canada are owed during a recent livestream.

How many Twitter employees have been laid off in Canada?

While it remains unclear how many Twitter Canada employees are affected by the cuts, at least two high-ranking executives have lost their job:

• Paul Burns, managing director at Twitter Canada
• Michele Austin, Twitter’s director of public policy for Canada and the U.S.

Both took to LinkedIn on Nov. 4 to share that they had been let go.

Cutting contractors

Following the initial layoffs, multiple reports claimed that Twitter also cut approximately 4,400 of its 5,500 contract employees without warning.

News outlets, including Axios, confirmed on Nov. 12 that the social media giant did let go of a significant amount of contractors as well as members of the content moderation division.

Class action in California

In San Francisco, Twitter staff have launched a class action lawsuit against Musk’s plan to lay off half of the company’s workforce.

Employees claim that workers aren’t receiving enough working notice before they are being terminated, which violates California and federal labour laws.

However, Twitter told a federal judge that the lawsuit claiming that the company’s layoffs violated U.S. employment laws is baseless, and moved to send the claims to arbitration.

The social media giant said on Nov. 21 that it had met its legal obligations by telling workers who were let go that their last day would be Jan. 4, 2023, or more than 60 days later.

Twitter is also asking the judge to reject a pending motion by the plaintiffs that forces the company to notify affected staff of the lawsuit before asking them to sign severance agreements — arguing that it has created confusion and delayed severance payments.

Female staff “disproportionately targeted”

In a separate lawsuit, two former Twitter employees are claiming that female workers were “disproportionately targeted” during the company’s layoffs.

Carolina Bernal Strifling and Willow Wren Turkal filed the complaint on Dec. 7 — stating that 57 per cent of Twitter’s female staff were laid off on Nov. 4, while only 47 per cent of male workers were affected.

According to court documents, a recent analysis of the mass layoff at Twitter found that women were more likely to have lost their jobs at a rate that made it highly unlikely to be random or performance-based.

Back to the office

In his first email to remaining Twitter staff, Elon Musk said remote work will no longer be allowed and that employees are expected to work in their respective offices for at least 40 hours a week.

He added in the email, which was obtained by Bloomberg News, that he wants to see subscriptions account for half of the social media giant’s revenue.

Tech industry layoffs continue

The layoffs at Twitter come as several North American technology companies, including RenoRun, Microsoft, Meta, Shopify, Snap, and Hootsuite, have significantly reduced their workforces as they continue to monitor market conditions.

SEE ALSO
• Report: Top Twitter execs fired ‘for cause’ to avoid severance payouts
• Elon Musk to Tesla Employees: ‘Come back or get out’
• Employment lawyer on mass layoffs in the tech industry
• Layoffs in Canada

Termination agreements for Twitter employees

When it comes to severance pay for laid off workers, sources told Bloomberg News that Musk and Twitter are considering 60 days’ worth of compensation.

However, many of the social media giant’s affected staff may be owed much more than this.

In Canada, non-unionized employees at Twitter are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing or corporate restructuring.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance for technology industry employees
• Severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance packages in mass layoffs

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.