Dorsey’s 8% Twitter Layoff

We knew that big changes were coming to Twitter, and here at The Blog Herald, we’ve been following them closely, so the news that Twitter laid off 8% of its workforce (or 336 employees) was not too surprising. It’s all part of a much larger effort to refocus and restructure the massively popular microblogging website. Let’s break down the Twitter layoff.

These layoffs come on the heels of Jack Dorsey’s installment as permanent CEO of the social media giant. In an email to the staff, Dorsey wrote that laying off employees “isn’t easy. But it is right.” Here’s the complete email.

It appears that Twitter’s employees found out about their termination rather untraditionally: they were locked out of their official Twitter email account.

I've been impacted by $TWTR's layoffs. This is how I found out this morning. pic.twitter.com/MbjFwYLcU2

— Bart Teeuwisse ? ?? (@bartt) October 13, 2015

At least it wasn’t a tweet, right?

In his email, Dorsey called the laid off employees’ severance packages are “generous,” some reporting that these exit packages could cost Twitter anywhere from $10 million to $20 million.

While this might be a tough pill to swallow for many, Twitter may need tough medicine like this to rectify Twitter’s Wall Street problems. Will we see more layoffs as times goes on? Maybe. Either way, we’re seeing a new Twitter under Jack Helm at the helm permanently.

With Moments and the “Buy now” button recently introduced, Twitter is quickly remaking itself before our eyes.

But, hey, if great former Twitter engineers are having a hard time finding a job, they can always apply at Nest.

Hey (ex) @twitter engineers! If you are looking for your next gig, we at Nest are hiring. Shoot me a PM! #Twitterlayoffs

— Tomas Brennessl (@tomasbrennessl) October 13, 2015