Twitter Folks Fired by Elon Musk are Very Competent, Very Mission-Critical Folks
Elvis Dunderhoff November 5, 2022Imagine being a Twitter employee who was so offended at the Babylon Bee calling a man a man that you decided it was a great idea to censor them only to watch Elon Musk take over the company and fire you. #TwitterLayoffs
— Michael Seifert (@realmichaelseif) November 4, 2022
These are good folks. They’re working folks, out there trying to make life easier for folks on the internet.
They’re not snarky elitists. They down home soul folks. They deserve to control information as much as your great uncle who worked at the Post Office and burned up letters that he thought were mean.
Elon Musk-led Twitter began a long-dreaded and drastic round of layoffs on Friday — and numerous workers took to the social media site to confirm they were caught in the bloodbath.
Company officials began informing laid-off employees about their fate via an email message on Friday morning as Musk scrambles to cut costs at the struggling firm.
Roughly half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees were expected to lose their jobs during the culling — with some workers claiming they had lost access to systems overnight.
“Looks like I’m unemployed y’all. Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack,” tweeted Simon Balmain, a former senior community manager at Twitter. “#OneTeam forever. Loved you all so much. So sad it had to end this way.”
Balmain, who was based in the United Kingdom but working Los Angeles hours, elaborated on his ouster in an interview with the BBC.
Looks like I’m unemployed y’all. Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack. #OneTeam forever. Loved you all so much.
So sad it had to end this way 💔
— simon balmain (@SBkcrn) November 4, 2022
“Everyone got an email saying that there was going to be a large reduction in headcount, and then around an hour later, folks started getting their laptops remotely wiped and access to Slack and Gmail revoked,” Balmain said.
Rachel Bonn, a marketing manager at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, said she had lost laptop access despite being eight months pregnant, even as she raises a 9-month-old child.
Rumman Chowdhury, whose LinkedIn account noted her title was director of machine learning ethics at Twitter, posted a screenshot showing a failed log-in attempt on her work account.
Folks, we gotta stand with these folks.
They’re down home folks, who just want to teach people about pronouns, so we can have a better future for tranny folks.
Last Thursday in the SF office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old.
Just got cut off from laptop access #LoveWhereYouWorked 💙 https://t.co/rhwntoR98l pic.twitter.com/KE8gUwABlU— rachel bonn (@RachBonn) November 4, 2022
Has it already started? Happy layoff eve! pic.twitter.com/0AcaQjGJvm
— Rumman Chowdhury (@ruchowdh) November 4, 2022
Well, it’s been real. ✌🏼The official (and very dehumanizing) layoff email has been received. 🫡💙 The most amazing job with the incredible #OneTeam
The best may be yet to come, but for now, I’m absolutely gutted. 🥺 😔#LoveWhereYouWorked #LoveWhoYouWorkedWith— Lauren Pinnella Traylor (@laur_tray) November 4, 2022
Twitter is so special. After 4 yrs, I’m leaving with the fullest 💙, experiences I never imagined, and unbreakable bonds with so many Tweeps. My head is held high, knowing I gave it my absolute all. @TwitterComms: We have so much to be proud of. Time to fly even higher! #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/5tVUP575A6
— Julie Steele (@juliezsteele) November 4, 2022