Twitter Begins Widespread Layoffs under Musk

2022-11-05

00:00 / 00:00
复读宝 RABC v8.0beta 复读机按钮使用说明
播放/暂停
停止
播放时:倒退3秒/复读时:回退AB段
播放时:快进3秒/复读时:前进AB段
拖动:改变速度/点击:恢复正常速度1.0
拖动改变复读暂停时间
点击:复读最近5秒/拖动:改变复读次数
设置A点
设置B点
取消复读并清除AB点
播放一行
停止播放
后退一行
前进一行
复读一行
复读多行
变速复读一行
变速复读多行
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1
  • Twitter began widespread dismissals of employees as new owner Elon Musk reorganizes the social media site.
  • 2
  • The company had told employees by email that they would find out by Friday morning if they had been laid off.
  • 3
  • The email did not say how many of the 7,500 or so employees would lose their jobs.
  • 4
  • Musk did not answer a question about the dismissal plan at a conference in New York on Friday.
  • 5
  • Investor Ron Baron had asked the businessman how much money he would save after he "fired half of Twitter."
  • 6
  • Instead, Musk blamed activists who called on companies to halt advertising on the site.
  • 7
  • "The activist groups have been successful in causing a massive drop in Twitter advertising revenue," he said.
  • 8
  • He added that Twitter had done its best to satisfy the activists. But, "nothing is working," Musk said.
  • 9
  • Twitter employees have been expecting job cuts following Musk's $44 billion takeover of the company.
  • 10
  • On his first day as owner, Musk fired several top leaders.
  • 11
  • He also removed the company's board of directors and made himself the only board member.
  • 12
  • On Thursday night, many Twitter employees expressed support for co-workers by posting heart emojis in blue - the same color as Twitter's bird logo.
  • 13
  • By early Friday, some employees posted that they could not log into their work accounts.
  • 14
  • They said those who worked in engineering, communications, product and content curation were among those being dismissed.
  • 15
  • Rachel Bonn, a Twitter user wrote:
  • 16
  • "Last Thursday in the SF (San Francisco) office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter.
  • 17
  • 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old. Just got cut off from laptop access."
  • 18
  • Arnaud Weber, a vice president of engineering said his goodbye on Twitter on Friday:
  • 19
  • "Twitter still has a lot of unlocked potential but I'm proud of what we accomplished."
  • 20
  • A worker said employees on the Twitter Blue team were also dismissed.
  • 21
  • The team was working on developing new products for the site.
  • 22
  • "Just to be clear, he fired the team working on this," the employee said.
  • 23
  • A spokesperson for California's Employment Development Department told The Associated Press that Musk and Twitter had not given public notice of the coming layoffs.
  • 24
  • U.S. and California laws require employers with at least 100 workers to give public notice if planning to dismiss 500 or more employees.
  • 25
  • The requirement is for both publicly traded and privately held companies.
  • 26
  • On Thursday, several employees opened a legal action against Twitter in a federal court in San Francisco.
  • 27
  • One had been fired and the others had been locked out of the company's computer systems.
  • 28
  • The employees say Twitter plans to dismiss more employees and has violated the law by not providing the required notice.
  • 29
  • The layoffs come at a tough time for social media companies as companies are cutting back on advertising.
  • 30
  • In September, Facebook's parent company Meta said it was working on plans to reorganize and reduce workers.
  • 31
  • Big companies including General Motors and General Mills have all halted advertising on Twitter.
  • 32
  • The companies wanted to see how the service will operate under Musk.
  • 33
  • And Europe's Volkswagen Group said Friday it is suggesting a suspension of paid advertising on Twitter for its car companies, including Audi, Porsche and Bentley.
  • 34
  • I'm Dan Novak.
  • 1
  • Twitter began widespread dismissals of employees as new owner Elon Musk reorganizes the social media site.
  • 2
  • The company had told employees by email that they would find out by Friday morning if they had been laid off. The email did not say how many of the 7,500 or so employees would lose their jobs.
  • 3
  • Musk did not answer a question about the dismissal plan at a conference in New York on Friday. Investor Ron Baron had asked the businessman how much money he would save after he "fired half of Twitter."
  • 4
  • Instead, Musk blamed activists who called on companies to halt advertising on the site. "The activist groups have been successful in causing a massive drop in Twitter advertising revenue," he said. He added that Twitter had done its best to satisfy the activists. But, "nothing is working," Musk said.
  • 5
  • Twitter employees have been expecting job cuts following Musk's $44 billion takeover of the company. On his first day as owner, Musk fired several top leaders. He also removed the company's board of directors and made himself the only board member.
  • 6
  • On Thursday night, many Twitter employees expressed support for co-workers by posting heart emojis in blue - the same color as Twitter's bird logo.
  • 7
  • By early Friday, some employees posted that they could not log into their work accounts. They said those who worked in engineering, communications, product and content curation were among those being dismissed.
  • 8
  • Rachel Bonn, a Twitter user wrote: "Last Thursday in the SF (San Francisco) office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old. Just got cut off from laptop access."
  • 9
  • Arnaud Weber, a vice president of engineering said his goodbye on Twitter on Friday: "Twitter still has a lot of unlocked potential but I'm proud of what we accomplished."
  • 10
  • A worker said employees on the Twitter Blue team were also dismissed. The team was working on developing new products for the site. "Just to be clear, he fired the team working on this," the employee said.
  • 11
  • Is it legal?
  • 12
  • A spokesperson for California's Employment Development Department told The Associated Press that Musk and Twitter had not given public notice of the coming layoffs.
  • 13
  • U.S. and California laws require employers with at least 100 workers to give public notice if planning to dismiss 500 or more employees. The requirement is for both publicly traded and privately held companies.
  • 14
  • On Thursday, several employees opened a legal action against Twitter in a federal court in San Francisco. One had been fired and the others had been locked out of the company's computer systems. The employees say Twitter plans to dismiss more employees and has violated the law by not providing the required notice.
  • 15
  • The layoffs come at a tough time for social media companies as companies are cutting back on advertising. In September, Facebook's parent company Meta said it was working on plans to reorganize and reduce workers.
  • 16
  • Big companies including General Motors and General Mills have all halted advertising on Twitter. The companies wanted to see how the service will operate under Musk.
  • 17
  • And Europe's Volkswagen Group said Friday it is suggesting a suspension of paid advertising on Twitter for its car companies, including Audi, Porsche and Bentley.
  • 18
  • I'm Dan Novak.
  • 19
  • Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press and Reuters.
  • 20
  • _________________________________________________________________
  • 21
  • Words in This Story
  • 22
  • revenue - n. money that is made by or paid to a business
  • 23
  • logo - n. a symbol that is used to identify a company and that appears on its products
  • 24
  • curation - n. the action or process of selecting and organizing online content
  • 25
  • access - n. a way of getting near something
  • 26
  • potential - n. something that can be developed to make better
  • 27
  • accomplish - v. to succeed in doing something
  • 28
  • layoff - n. the act of ending the employment of a worker or workers