Social media company,
Twitter, on Tuesday said it had
concluded plans to sack 336 workers worldwide, including 11 Nigerians,
as part of a restructuring of the business.
Twitter said the job cut would cut across all the countries
where it was operating, adding that the 336 workers who would be
disengaged by the end of this month constituted “roughly eight per cent”
of its global workforce.
In a letter to the employees, the Co-founder and new Chief Executive Officer,
Twitter,
Jack Dorsey, said, “We have made an extremely tough decision: we plan
to part ways with up to 336 people from across the company. We are doing
this with the utmost respect for each and every person.
“
Twitter will go to great lengths to take care of each individual in providing generous exit packages and help finding a new job.”
However, Nigerians working directly and indirectly with the company
stated that they were pleading with the management for mercy.
“Eleven of us have already received letters to that effect, but those
of us who directly work for the company, and even those who are not
directly employed but work on contract basis are pleading and believing
that there will be a reverse (of the decision) since the office in
Nigeria is not a big one,” an affected employee said.
“The job cuts will cost between $10m and $20m in severance pay, while the restructuring will cost between $5m and $15m,”
Twitter said in a statement online.
Shares of
Twitter rose by two per cent in pre-market trading on Tuesday following the announcement.
The move comes just days after Dorsey returned as chief executive of the social media site.
He was named the new
Twitter CEO earlier this month, seven years after he was sacked from the job.
Dorsey had served as the interim boss of the company for three months after Dick Costolo stepped down on July 1, 2015.
Costolo, who was chief executive from 2010 to this year, had been
under pressure from investors unhappy with the firm’s user growth.
