MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Half of Twitter workers to lose their jobs under Musk

At Tesla, Musk tried to get workers to agree to severance payments below those required by the law

Twitter workers found out Friday that their jobs were on the line as they were told not to go to the office and stay at home because all access cards had been suspended.

“Our offices are going to be temporarily closed and access cards suspended. If you are in or on your way to the office, please return home,” the employees were texted by the new management under tycoon Elon Musk, who plans to announce mass layoffs “in an effort to put Twitter on a healthy trajectory.”

According to The New York Times, 3,738 people will be dismissed from the San Francisco headquarters as a part of the “difficult process of reducing our workforce.”

“The action is absolutely necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward,” the email also read. Employees have also been banned from “discussing confidential company information,” it was reported.

In this scenario, some Twitter workers have decided to file a class-action suit over mass layoffs without notice over violations of the federal and California WARN Act requiring notice and compensation for those layoffs. The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires 60 days advance written notice of a mass layoff.

The suit was filed Thursday “to ensure that Twitter comply with the law and provide the requisite notice or severance payment in connection with the anticipated layoffs and that it not solicit releases of claims of any employees without informing them of the pendency of this action and their right to pursue their claims under the federal or California WARN Act,” at a time when Musk's intentions regarding about 50% of Twitter's workforce was known only through press reports.

At Tesla, Musk tried to get workers to agree to severance payments below those required by the law, the suit also underlined.