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☆ The tech firms laying off hordes of staff right now will regret it, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Major tech firms including Alphabet, Meta, Snap, and Twitter have laid off staff or frozen hires. But layoffs take the sheen off big tech firms' brand image, two tech execs told Insider. Tech firms that are slashing jobs and laying off staff are making a "major mistake" because future candidates will remember how those organizations acted during the downturn, tech and hiring execs say. "You're cutting your investment in future technology, that's number one. Instead of taking a hardline cutting and savings approach, tech firms should refocus on retaining loyal employees and cultivating talent.

☆ Twitter insiders are getting more worried that the site is at massive risk of crashing under Elon Musk's reign
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kali Hays | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Thousands of Twitter employees have been laid off, and Twitter cut costs in infrastructure. Twitter is already under strainA big test for Twitter will be the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off this weekend. In 2018, Twitter boasted its "massive role" in World Cup fandom that year and live matches, which drove 115 billion views of tweets with the World Cup hashtag. The tool was affected by Musk's decision on Monday to turn off the many "microservices" at Twitter, a current employee said. But convincing people to return to the chaos under Musk has been a tough sell, two current employees said.

☆ Elon Musk's overnight round of Twitter firings target some outspoken critics of the billionaire. 'It's free speech unless it's about him,' one former worker said.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"It's free speech unless it's about him," one former worker said. Elon Musk's support of free speech on Twitter seems not to extend to critics working at the company. Before he offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Musk criticized Twitter for undermining democracy by failing to uphold "free speech principles" and not long before called himself a "free speech absolutist." Another worker fired overnight agreed, saying his own critical tweeting was "the best way to go." Are you a Twitter employee or someone else with insight to share?

☆ Twitter employees publicly slam Elon Musk for criticizing the app: 'Like did you even bother to learn?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Several Twitter employees slammed Elon Musk on social media after he criticized the app. In his tweet, Musk appeared to suggest that the app was poorly written — a comment that several current Twitter engineers were quick to address. Eric Frohnhoefer deleted a tweet criticizing Elon Musk TwitterAfter the engineer appeared to question Musk's technical competence, Musk called the engineer out on Twitter. Frohnhoefer said Twitter has done a "bunch of work" to improve the app's performance on Android phones. Sheon Han deleted a tweet in response to Elon Musk.

☆ Inside the week that changed Facebook forever: Record Meta layoffs have sowed confusion and rising anger among employees who are beginning to lash out at CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Kali Hays | Rob Price | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Meta let go of 11,000 employees, and it's not clear which divisions and roles were most affected. After a harrowing week of record layoffs at Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives convened a town hall meeting on Friday for everyone who survived the cull. During the Q&A part of the call, an employee asked a question referring to Twitter's job cuts, and Zuckerberg weighed in, according to people who attended. Roughly 11,000 staff were let go, the first major job cuts in the company's 18-year history. Analysts at Jefferies called it a "Zuck U-Turn" in a research note to clients, saying the job cuts will boost profits while not impacting Meta's growth trajectory.

☆ Chaos unchecked: A comprehensive timeline of Elon Musk's Twitter verification saga - for now
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Elon Musk's revamped Twitter Blue launch has hit some major snags in the past week. The shenanigans surrounding the blue check (and subsequent gray check) has heads spinning among average Twitter users, major advertisers and big-name celebrities. Here's a look at everything that's happened with Twitter Blue in the past week and the murky state of verification on the platform. Musk's new verification model was designed to become part of Twitter's existing Twitter Blue feature, a $4.99 monthly subscription offering premium services. He also said that Twitter is adding a "parody subscript," because "tricking people is not ok."It is unclear when and how Twitter Blue may be reinstated.

☆ Meet the members of Elon Musk's inner circle said to be helping him fix Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Picked from Musk's inner circle of allies, friends, and ex-colleagues, these are the people reportedly helping him fix Twitter. Three days after Musk's acquisition, Krishnan tweeted that he was temporarily "helping out" Musk after the takeover. Sources told Insider he was listed on Twitter's company directory as a staff software engineer and was assigned a company email address. Bloomberg reported that Birchall played a key part in securing the financing for Musk's Twitter purchase. Over the past week, Musk's right-hand man has also been among the team strategizing inside Twitter, per The Washington Post.

☆ In leaked a memo to staff, Elon Musk slightly softens his stance on remote work at Twitter, but still urges in-person work by praising the movie 'Being There'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Elon Musk ever so slightly softened his stance on remote work at Twitter, according to a memo obtained by Insider on Friday. Musk stressed that employees feel more part of initiatives when working in person together, and are more effective that way. However, Musk also said that working remotely "is fine" if staff can't make it into the office and are performing exceptionally well. To reaffirm, working remotely is fine if if you cannot reasonably make it to the office and you are performing at an exceptional level. Contact Kali Hays at khays@insider.com, on secure messaging app Signal at 949-280-0267, or through Twitter DM at @hayskali.

☆ Elon Musk tells Twitter staff that the company spoke with the FTC and will do 'whatever it takes' to comply with government regulations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk told Twitter staffers that he intends to fully comply with requirements the company is under from the Federal Trade Commission. "I cannot emphasize enough that Twitter will do whatever it takes to adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the FTC consent decree," Musk wrote in his email. Spiro went on to note that Musk is already taking steps to ensure Twitter remains in compliance with the consent decree. Email from Elon Musk, subject line: FTCI cannot emphasize enough that Twitter will do whatever it takes to adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the FTC consent decree. We will of course remain in compliance with teh consent decree and the legal department is handling it and happy to answer any questions.

Employees' heads are reeling from the sheer scale of the layoffs, Insider reported Thursday. "People really didn't expect layoffs at that scale, even after the news," one employee who was spared from the layoffs told Insider. Those who didn't survive the layoffs are attributing them to Zuckerberg's poor leadership. A former recruiter at the company even said, "It took very poor leadership and mismanagement to get us in this position." One told Insider that the 38-year-old CEO "clearly appeared emotional" while addressing his new, downsized lot.

On Wednesday, Meta abruptly shut down Quitter, an internal tool that lets employees see who left. Meta is also letting go of employees across Family of Apps and Reality Labs, according to an internal memo. The firm laid off 11,000 employees to cut costs after losing billions of dollars in revenue. Before Quitter was shuttered, Meta employees could use the tool to see data about how many people were leaving the company and track attrition trends. Meta is providing 16 weeks of base pay to laid-off employees plus two weeks of additional pay for every year of service, said the memo.

☆ Meta, Cameo, and Twitter are 3 of the latest creator economy companies to be hit with layoffs. Here are 22 that have cut staff recently.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Amanda Perelli | Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider is keeping tabs on which creator economy companies are cutting back on staff. For more than a year, the creator economy was a red-hot industry flowing with new players, big deals, and massive investments. According to Crunchbase, funding for VC-backed creator economy startups topped $939 million in 2021. These sunny days are coming to a halt, however, as creator economy startups grapple with a looming recession. As the creator economy responds to the changing markets, Insider is keeping track of which companies are laying off staffers.

☆ Elon Musk floats bankruptcy as a possibility, demands 'hardcore' culture in first meeting with Twitter employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Grace Kay | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk brought up bankruptcy as a possibility in a meeting with Twitter staff, people present said. At the meeting, Musk said Twitter staff will be expected to "perform hardcore." It took place after Musk earlier that morning sent Twitter staff an email, his first company-wide communication since he took over almost two weeks ago. Robin Wheeler, who Musk tasked with leading advertising at Twitter, just left the company, a person familiar told Insider. Are you a Twitter employee or someone else with insight to share?

☆ Meta employees are shell-shocked and angry after Mark Zuckerberg laid off 11,000 workers. Remaining staff are still unsure exactly who got fired.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kali Hays | Rob Price | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Meta let go of 11,000 employees, and it's not clear which divisions and roles were most affected. Shortly before a somber video call with tens of thousands of employees on Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg hosted a smaller call with managers at Meta. Zuckerberg fielded questions from managers asking how laid-off employees were chosen and how long the plan had been in the works. "Class act as always," one departing employee said sarcastically of Zuckerberg's call for laid-off workers. "This will add up to a meaningful cultural shift in how we operate," Zuckerberg told remaining employees.

☆ Meta laid off 11,000 of its staff, and Apple is a big reason for the social media giant's sudden decline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Meta is laying off 11,000 employees, or 13% of its staff, and Apple is a big reason why. Zuckerberg has often cited Apple's threat to Meta's ads business, and recently pointed to Apple as a major culprit for its second successive quarter of revenue decline. Revenue in Apple's services business — which also includes sales from the App Store, Apple TV+, and Apple music — grew 5% to $19.2. "Apple previously said it didn't take a share of developer advertising revenue, and now apparently changed its mind." Of course, Apple's ATT restrictions and its push into becoming an ad seller itself isn't the only threat to Meta's ad revenue.

Meta said Wednesday it plans to lay off more than 11,000 employees, or 13% of its workforce. Meta had 87,314 employees on September 30, 2022, according to its third-quarter earnings report. Such a move has been expected by employees for months, as Insider previously reported. FacebookZuckerberg said that affected US employees would get 16 weeks of severance plus an extra two weeks for every year of service. Affected employees would also still get their restricted stock unit vesting on November 15, he said.

☆ Meta announced it's laying off more than 11,000 staff. It also said it anticipated making further big losses on metaverse projects.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta has announced plans to lay off more than 11,000 employees, around 13% of the company's staff. The Reality Labs division, comprising Meta's metaverse and VR businesses, has lost $30.7 billion. Meta said it anticipated that Reality Lab's operating losses in 2023 would grow significantly. From the start of 2019 to September 30, 2022, Meta invested $36 billion into Reality Labs, an Insider analysis found. Insider's Kali Hays previously reported that employees in the Reality Labs division had been expecting layoffs.

☆ Facebook extends its broad hiring freeze indefinitely amid mass layoffs and a new wave of frugality
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has again extended a hiring freeze in place for months. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his Wednesday morning note to employees regarding layoffs that a current hiring freeze at Facebook would extend through March of next year at least. The freeze is taking place amid layoffs that impact more than 11,000 employees, or 13% of its workforce. Now, the company is looking to cut costs even beyond a hiring freeze and layoffs, especially after a disappointing third quarter that sent shares plummeting to a seven-year low. The company is looking at infrastructure costs, closing offices, and even moving to a "desk sharing" model for employees, Zuckerberg said.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's giant middle finger to Wall Street backfired for Meta. Welcome to the 'biggest two week pivot' analysts have ever seen.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The move went stunningly wrong, crushing the shares of Facebook parent company Meta. What really surprised Wall Street were the other steps Zuckerberg is taking:Meta extended its hiring freeze through the first quarter of 2023. This one by Zuckerberg ranks at or near the top, with the analyst calling it "the biggest two week pivot we've ever seen." For Zuckerberg, Meta and even Silicon Valley, this is another sign that the eras of abundance and founder-friendly investing are ending. For Wall Street, this all came about two weeks too late.

☆ Facebook moves to 'desk sharing' for in-office employees as layoffs and cost-cutting continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Many Facebook employees will no longer have personal desk space. In an effort to reduce spending, the company is "shrinking" its office footprint. "We'll roll out more cost-cutting changes like this in the coming months," Mark Zuckerberg said. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Bloomberg reported in October that the company was backing out of one office space in New York.

☆ Facebook layoffs will likely hit most departments, including Mark Zuckerberg's beloved metaverse division
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Kali Hays | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Facebook employees have been told for weeks to expect layoffs, as Insider previously reported. Even Reality Labs is expected to be impacted, despite it building out Zuckerberg's metaverse vision. 'Investors are demanding more action'One of the people said Reality Labs is "Mark's baby" and could be somewhat insulated from cuts, compared with other divisions. Facebook disclosed it has already this year lost more than $9 billion on Reality Labs, including nearly $4 billion in the third quarter alone. The division lost $10 billion over the whole of 2021, yet the company said spending on Reality Labs is only going to keep growing.

☆ Elon Musk is asking Twitter employees who survived last week's mass layoff to ask their old coworkers if they'd like to return
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter workers are being told to see if recently laid off colleagues would like to return to work. Still, current workers must persuade higher-ups that people who are interested should come back. Media engineering is a core organization at Twitter, and Musk had previously tweeted about wanting longer videos to be uploaded to Twitter. Even if laid off employees agree to return, Musk still isn't making it easy, according to additional messages seen by Insider. Thousands of Twitter employees found out they had been let go by Musk on Thursday night when they lost access to their work tools.

☆ Elon Musk is looking to rehire Twitter workers who can help with video and the Twitter Blue subscription service after laying off thousands last week
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter workers are being told to see if recently laid off colleagues would like to return to work. Twitter is trying to rehire media engineering workers and those who would make Twitter Blue work. Still, current workers must "convince" higher ups why people who are interested should come back. Even if laid off employees agree to return, Musk still isn't making it easy, according to additional messages seen by Insider. Thousands of Twitter employees found out they had been let go by Musk on Thursday night when they lost access to their work tools.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter laid off more than 90% of staff in India — now only about 12 employees remain, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's Twitter slashed 90% of employees in India over the weekend, sources told Bloomberg. Twitter had about 200 staff in the country but now only about 12 remain, per the report. Around 70% of the layoffs in India hit employees in the product and engineering department, one of the people told Bloomberg. The people told Bloomberg that staff working in marketing, corporate communications, and public policy in India were also fired. Since Musk took over Twitter on October 27, thousands of employees across the world have been laid off.

☆ Musk says Twitter usage is 'at an all-time high,' but a report shows that more than 1 million accounts have been deactivated or suspended since his takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter usage has hit an all-time high, Elon Musk tweeted on Monday. On Monday, Musk tweeted that usage of Twitter is "at an all-time high lol," adding that he hopes the servers do not melt. In the second quarter of 2022, Twitter reported 237.8 million monetizable daily users — a 16.6% on-year growth. Among the suspended and terminated accounts are actors and celebrities who changed their name to "Elon Musk" on Twitter. On Monday, Musk said that "any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying 'parody' will be permanently suspended."

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