Twitter employees bear the problems of public comment from the future owner of the social network, a change in leadership and a hiring freeze. On top of all that, some employees are being transferred to new jobs as the company moves away from its more risky projects.
The company plans to pull resources from some of its long-term ambitions in favor of focusing on the most pressing needs.
Long-term ambitions include audio spaces, newsletters, and communities. While pressing needs consider the growth of the number of users and personalization efforts.
This means that many employees are transferred to the company’s consumer product portfolio.
Jay Sullivan, who took over product leadership earlier this month, is leading the restructuring. Employees are also speculating about layoffs, though none are planned, according to the company.
A Twitter spokesperson said: “We’re making some updates to our Consumer Products team structure and roadmap. We want to focus better on the areas that have the most positive impact in the public conversation.
Teams within Twitter continue to work on the edit button feature. The goal is to release the update later this year, allowing users to edit a Tweet within a limited time to send it. The previous history of the Tweet is also available for viewing.
It may be months before Twitter comes under the control of its future owner, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The world’s richest man agreed to take over the company for $54.20 a share in late April. The deal values the company at $44 billion. But the deal is not closed yet.
Employees struggle to maximize what may be the best financial outcome for shareholders, including themselves, with business chaos throughout the waiting period.
Musk’s constant tweets compounded the sentiment. Messages from employees on Slack’s internal groups show that Musk has alienated many of them by criticizing Twitter’s policies on speech and harassment and single-handedly mentioning the company’s well-liked senior lawyer, Vijaya Jade.
Twitter focuses on the areas with the most positive impact
Musk gave employees more cause for concern this week after he sent an email to employees at Tesla titled: Remote work is no longer acceptable.
“Anyone who wants to work remotely must be in the office for at least 40 hours a week or leave Tesla,” he said. This is less than what we ask of factory workers.
Such a policy would conflict with the current position of Twitter, one of the most prominent major tech companies that allows most employees to work from home permanently.
In an internal discussion shortly before Twitter’s board of directors accepted the deal, an employee asked if anyone was excited about the idea of Elon. The question elicited 446 responses from dozens of employees over three days, many in the negative. Some responded that Musk did not seem to understand the challenges Twitter faces in terms of speech, or building a social network in general.
Others were excited about Musk, or at least felt that his deal was a better option than continuing on the current path.
Company executives used recent employee meetings to explain that Twitter’s board of directors has a fiduciary duty to find the best possible outcome for shareholders.
Employees are also suffering from a hiring freeze and other cost-cutting measures implemented by the company. It aims to stabilize business during a turbulent period for the broader economy.
Those cuts included canceling offers made to some potential new hires. In one case, an employee planning to join a corporate office four days before his start date learned that his job offer had been withdrawn.
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