Widespread Twitter Layoffs Begin a Week After Elon Musk's Takeover

FIRE, APPLE TV, AND ONLINE. WE DO HAVE SOME BREAKING NEWS FOR YOU THIS HOUR. THOSE EMAILS, THEY HAVE GONE OUT. THOUSANDS OF TWITTER EMPLOYEES ARE LEARNING THIS MORNING THAT THEY ARE LOSING THEIR JOBS. THIS COMES UNDER THE COMPANY’S NEW LEADERSHIP OF CEO ELON MUSK. SCOTT McGREW IS JOINING US. I KNOW HE’S SPOKEN WITH A LOT OF EXPERTS ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES, WHAT THEY SHOULD DO NEXT IN THIS SITUATION. BEFORE WE GET TO THAT, I WANT TO GO TO NBC BAY AREA’S KRIS SANCHEZ WITH THE LATEST ON WHAT THIS MEANS. KRIS, WHAT IS TO BE EXPECTED AT

THIS POINT? >> WELL, WE KNOW THIS WASN’T COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED. THESE EMPLOYEES WERE TOLD TO STAND BY FOR THOSE EMAILS. TWITTER HEADQUARTERS SILENT THIS MORNING. ELON MUSK IS IN NEW YORK AT A WALL STREET INVESTOR CONFERENCE. THE BUILDING WAS LOCKED UP FOR THE DAY. ALL OF THE KEY BADGES WERE DEACTIVATED AND WORKERS WERE TOLD TO STAY HOME TO AWAIT THEIR FATE. THE TWITTER SPHERE HAS POSTS FROM EMPLOYEES SAYING THEY WERE LOCKED OUT OF THEIR WORK EMAIL ACCOUNTS AND SLACK. THERE WERE MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY FOR LAID-OFF EMPLOYEES AND CELEBRATORY TWEETS BY PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO LIKE MUSK’S

PLAN FOR THE SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT. WE ARE STILL WAITING TO SEE THOSE TWO LETTERS SENT TO TWITTER’S 7,500 EMPLOYEES. THEY WERE TOLD TO EXPECT THAT WITH A SUBJECT LINE

“YOUR ROLL AT TWITTER”. HALF OF THOSE EMAILS WERE EXPECTED TO BE LAYOFF NOTICES. LETTERS WERE SUPPOSED TO GO OUT AT 9:00 THIS MORNING AND NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M. TONIGHT. EMPLOYEES WHO GOT MAIL THROUGH THEIR COMPANY EMAIL, THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE GOING TO STAY WITH THE COMPANY. THE OTHER ONES WERE NOTIFIED VIA THEIR PERSONAL EMAIL. THESE LAYOFFS FOLLOW THE IMMEDIATE FIRING OF THE CEO AND

THE COMPANY’S CHIEF COUNSEL IN CHARGE OF ONLINE SAFETY. HE TWEETED THIS MORNING, TWITTER HAS SEEN A MASSIVE DROP IN REVENUE DUE TO ACTIVISTS GROUPS PRESSURING ADVERTISERS, EVEN THOUGH NOTHING HAS CHANGED WITH CONTENT MODERATION AND WE DID EVERYTHING WE COULD TO APPEASE THE ACTIVISTS. EXTREMELY MESSED UP. THEY’RE TRYING TO DESTROY FREE SPEECH IN AMERICA. WE KNOW THAT MUSK BOUGHT TWITTER FOR $44 BILLION, AN AMOUNT THAT EVEN HE ADMITS WAS TOO HIGH FOR A COMPANY THAT DOESN’T MAKE MONEY. SPEAKING AT THAT BARON INVESTOR CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK, MUSK TALKED ABOUT ADVERTISING, BUT HE ALSO TALKED ABOUT HATE

SPEECH. SO THIS MOVE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE EXCLUSIVELY ABOUT THE MONEY. >> A LOT OF MONEY, INDEED. KRIS, THANK YOU. >>> I WANT TO BRING IN SCOTT RIGHT NOW. WE JUST HEARD KRIS TALKING ABOUT THE ADVERTISING DOLLARS THERE. HOW MUCH OF WHAT MUSK IS SAYING ABOUT THAT IS TRUE? >> IT’S AN INTERESTING TWEET, ISN’T IT? SOME OF THE ADVERTISERS HAVE SUSPENDED ADS, GENERAL MOTORS, GENERAL MILLS WUNG THEM, AND I SHOULD POINT OUT OUR PARENT COMPANY, COMCAST, ADVERTISES ON TWITTER. IT SEEMS TO BE LESS ABOUT ACTIVISM AND ADVERTISERS TAKING A PAUSE WHILE THEY TRY TO

FIGURE OUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT. MUSK SAID IN THE TWEET THAT NOTHING HAD CHANGED, BUT HE DID FIRE THE HEAD OF SAFETY. THAT MIGHT GIVE ADVERTISERS PAUSE. JUST HOURS AFTER TAKING OVER TWITTER, MUSK TWEETED A LINK ABOUT LIES ABOUT PAUL PELOSI, AND WE’VE REPORTED RACIAL SLURS AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE INCREASED A FACTOR OF 500%. MARCUS, I DO WANT TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THAT MUSK LINE THAT HE TRIED TO APPEASE THE ACTIVISTS. THE ACTIVISTS HE’S TALKING ABOUT ARE GROUPS LIKE THE ANTIDEFAMATION LEAGUE, THE NAACP. THEY WANTED TWITTER TO STOP HATE SPEECH AND DEATH THREATS. THAT’S

WHAT THEY WANTED. >> A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT ALL OF THIS. SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE LAYOFFS, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A LOT OF PEOPLE, A LOT OF MONEY HERE. SO WHAT ABOUT THIS, MUSK WAS SUPPOSED TO NOT ONLY — YOU WOULD THINK BEING THE CEO OF A COMPANY, HE WOULD KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE THAT MANY PEOPLE YOU’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR, YOU’RE GOING TO LAY THEM ALL OFF, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO NOTIFY THE STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS WELL. >> THAT’S RIGHT, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS WAS COMING BECAUSE HE’S REQUIRED TO TELL

60 DAYS OUT BEFORE THESE LAYOFFS WITH THE WARN ACT. TWITTER EMPLOYEES GOT JUST A FEW HOURS. A GROUP OF EMPLOYEES HAVE SUED OVER THIS BECAUSE HE DID NOT INVOKE THE WARN ACT. WE SPOKE TO THEIR ATTORNEY EARLIER THIS MORNING. >> WE’RE ADVISING EMPLOYEES TO BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT SIGNING AWAY ANY RIGHTS. WE UNDERSTAND THAT TWITTER MAY BE SENDING SEVERANCE PACKAGES OUT TO THE AFFECTED EMPLOYEES NEXT WEEK, WHICH WILL INCLUDE A RELEASE OF CLAIMS. WE ARE WARNING EMPLOYEES NOT TO SIGN THAT RELEASE, NOT TO SIGN AWAY THEIR RIGHTS UNTIL WE KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON.

>> NOW, THAT ATTORNEY YOU JUST HEARD FROM ALSO REPRESENTED EMPLOYEES LAID OFF AT TESLA. THE TESLA LAYOFFS EARLIER THIS YEAR WERE BIG ENOUGH TO REQUIRE A WARN ACT NOTIFICATION, BUT, MARCUS, MUSK DIDN’T FILE ONE THERE EITHER. >> OKAY, SO HE’S BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE. WHAT IS THE PENALTY FOR FAILING TO FILE? >> THAT’S THE INTERESTING THING. YOU HAVE TO GIVE THE EMPLOYEES AFFECTED — THE PUNISHMENT IS YOU HAVE TO GIVE THE EMPLOYEES AFFECTED 60 DAYS PAY AND BENEFITS. WE KIND OF THINK THAT’S GOING TO BE PART OF THE TWITTER PAYOFF PACKAGE ANYWAY. SO IN THAT

SENSE, IT’S PROBABLY GOING TO BE A WASH. TWITTER EMPLOYEES, TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE, HAVE NOT SEEN THE PAYOFF PACKAGE YET. YOU HEARD THE LAWYER ADVISE NOT TO SIGN ANYTHING TODAY THAT WOULD RESTRICT THEIR OPTIONS IN THE FUTURE. >> THAT’S A LOT T