Is Elon Musk’s Twitter drama driving employees from the social media company?
That’s the assertion by Business Insider, which spoke to a number of anonymous employees about their decision to leave Twitter. “The general consensus among the majority of us is they're doing a poor job,” one said, referring to how Twitter leadership has handled Musk’s attempt to acquire the company for an eye-watering $44 billion.
Although Musk displayed early enthusiasm for the deal, he subsequently attempted to pull out of it, arguing that Twitter had lied to him about its overall bot count. The situation is now headed to a Delaware courtroom in October, where a judge could rule that Musk needs to purchase a company he no longer wants.
“So many people have left they won't even need to do more layoffs,” another employee told Business Insider. Twitter has reportedly begun subclassifying employees who have left due to Musk.
Twitter had already slowed its hiring in the second quarter, blaming the company’s financial results on the same macroeconomic headwinds facing other tech giants such as Meta/Facebook and Google. “We… are being more selective about the roles that we are filling, and we have simultaneously seen our attrition rate increase,” the company revealed as part of its second quarter 2022 results.
In May, back when Musk still seemed enthused about taking over Twitter, CEO Parag Agrawal suggested the company’s workforce would undergo a few tweaks. “At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the decision was made to invest aggressively to deliver big growth in audience and revenue, and as a company we did not hit intermediate milestones that enable confidence in these goals,” he wrote. “In order to responsibly manage the organization as we sharpen our roadmaps and our work, we need to continue to be intentional about our teams, hiring and costs.”
If Business Insider’s reporting is correct, it seems like many employees, by choosing the leave the company, are indirectly helping Agrawal’s attempt to cut costs. But can Twitter maintain its strategic roadmap if it’s losing top talent?
