Elon Musk says most Twitter employees were not adding value to company therefore he fired them

By Ankita ChakravartiLooks like Elon Musk feels no remorse for firing Twitter employees in such large numbers. He on the contrary thinks that most employees who were at the company were doing work that did not seem to have a lot of value. As a result of which, he fired them as soon as he became the heir of Twitter.

Musk made this statement during a virtual event at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London. Musk also mentioned that this might be true to some extent at most Silicon Valley companies, though not as much as at Twitter.

Musk explained that Twitter had a situation where meetings would involve ten people, but only one person would be actively pushing things forward, while the other nine would be holding things back. This lack of progress prompted him to take such difficult decisions.

Musk revealed that Twitter currently has around 1,500 employees, which he considers to be a reasonable number. However, insiders familiar with the company have stated that the actual number is closer to 1,000. Before Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022, the company had over 7,500 employees. Since taking over, Musk has been focused on reducing costs, resulting in the layoff of about half of the workforce shortly after the acquisition.

Since then, thousands more employees have been let go, laid off, or have chosen to leave on their own. Even high-ranking executives and those who criticized Musk’s leadership have not been spared from these changes. The remaining employees have been asked to fully embrace Musk’s vision for “Twitter 2.0,” which requires long hours and intense dedication to the company. Musk believes that employees should be exceptional at their jobs, hold critical roles, and prioritize the company’s interests over their own to keep their jobs.

Despite the significant downsizing, Musk said he is optimistic about Twitter’s future. He mentioned that the company is moving towards achieving positive cash flow, and there are plans to start hiring again. Musk even hinted that he might consider rehiring some of the employees who were let go earlier in his tenure.

As Twitter undergoes transformation, where they focus on creating more value while managing costs, it will be interesting to see how the company evolves under Musk’s leadership. The aim is to strike a balance between efficiency and rebuilding the workforce to support Twitter’s future goals.