Last week, billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk cut close to 3,700 jobs at Twitter – roughly half of the social media platform’s workforce. Musk, who paid a reported $44 billion for the service has been looking to find ways to reduce expenditures, while at the same time has begun to implement the “24/7” work culture that he is famous for – including calling upon employees to work around the clock to make the changes he’d like to see.
Already gone are the company’s “Days of rest” – those monthly days off that allowed employees to rest and recharge – while the Twitter’s remote work policy could soon be a thing of the past.
Experts have already raised concerns about whether Musk’s most recent actions are the best ones for his company.
John Colley, Warwick Business School associate dean, stated via email that Musk seems more concerned with making headlines than using Twitter to its best advantage.
Colley stated that Twitter could benefit from efficiencies, and might be too staffed. It doesn’t encourage staff to be announced as a way to motivate them, however. It generates ill will, and lots of media attention.
While many tech workers accept they might have to work more, Twitter’s employees could argue that they must burn the midnight oil since half of the staff were laid off. This could especially be true for employees who don’t agree with Musk’s direction of the company.
Colley said that Musk might finish his drastic cuts at this pace, but many staff will choose to go because they don’t like the new system. The culture will not be helped by allowing more tweets from anti-social figures. Musk could find that he has some staff which he doesn’t want to have.”
How to Right-Size Your Company
Musk previously stated that the social media platform will eventually hire some of its laid-off employees. However, some tech professionals are increasingly asking who might want to work for Twitter. A survey by the Institute for Corporate Productivity, (i4cp), found that Twitter could face a tough time recruiting the right people.
The findings were released on Tuesday. 72% said they would not consider taking a job as a Human Resources (HR) manager at Twitter. 67% stated that Musk has mismanaged the company’s management.
Nearly 59% of HR professionals also stated that they either would have quit, or at the very least would be sending out resumes to potential employers. A mere 15% percent of the respondents expressed excitement about the future. The rest said that they were more in a wait-and-see mode. Eight percent were simply confused about how Musk managed the Twitter takeover.
Kevin Oakes (CEO of i4cp and co-author of “Our Research Confirms an Unmistakable Link Between a Healthy Culture and Bottom-Line Business Impact”, said Oakes. Culture Renovation.
Musk may think of the bottom-line, but he may find out that Twitter’s users could also abandon it in the next weeks and months.