Twitter contract workers learn they have been fired by reading tweets of others

(Image credit: AFP)

The layoffs at Twitter don't seem to end. Reports are emerging now that the social network has sacked 4,000-5,000 contractors. It appears that several, if not all, were not given any formal notices.

Casey Newton, who writes about big tech and hosts a New York Times podcast, tweeted about the sackings on November 13.

"Getting word that a large number of number of Twitter contractors were just laid off this afternoon with no notice, both in the US and abroad," he wrote. "Functions affected appear to include content moderation, real estate, and marketing, among others."

Newton quoted a Twitter manager as saying that one of his workers got "deactivated without notice" in the middle of doing something important.

One professional said that it was through Newton's tweets that she found out about having been let go.

This Tweet is how I found out. https://t.co/QBRyVT51Cv

— natasha ramirez (@tasharamirez13) November 13, 2022

Newton also shared a screenshot of a text message saying the same.

"I learnt I was laid off by reading your tweets and trying to log on to slack and email and realized it was all gone," the message read.

You don’t have to treat people this way pic.twitter.com/YLBJdJqvkH — Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 13, 2022

This just happened to me. I work(ed) in content moderation in political misinformation.

— Melissa Ingle (@mingle74) November 13, 2022

CNBC and Axios also reported on the termination of contractual workers, citing internal communications and sources.

The job cuts follow mass layoffs of Twitter's full-time staff. Twitter's new boss Elon Musk fired nearly 50 percent its staff, just days after acquiring the company.

Musk has said the layoffs at Twitter were necessary because the company was losing upto $4 million per day.

The abrupt manner of such wide-ranging layoffs drew wide criticism and compelled Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey to apologise.

"I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that," he tweeted last week.