LinkedIn posts from Australian Twitter staff after Elon Musk’s global staff bloodbath

Former Twitter staff in Australia have issued desperate pleas for jobs after Elon Musk seized control and sacked half of the media firm’s 7,500 global employees. 

Twitter closed access to its offices worldwide and locked staff out of company accounts on Friday, advising them to stay at home and await news of their fate.

About 40 employees at the Sydney Twitter office received an email on Saturday at 1am notifying them on whether they still had a job.

Local Twitter staff shared their ‘heartbreak’ on LinkedIn after receiving news they were part of the global layoffs.

‘My entire team was laid off from Twitter,’ former Sydney global news deputy curation lead Katherine Gallo wrote.

‘I’m heartbroken because when I left my previous job at SBS I thought I wasn’t going to find another place I loved so much so quickly. But I did. It’s the people that made Twitter so special. What’s next for me? I’m not sure.’

Twitter CEO and Billionaire Elon Musk (pictured) slashed half of the company’s 7,500 staff in a global purge to cut costs at the social media platform

Sacked employees across the globe were shocked after losing their jobs, with many asking company’s to keep them in mind when hiring. 

Former Philippines global escalations and strategic response Faiza V wrote it was difficult to type with ‘tears in your eyes’. 

‘I have spent my last shift at Twitter, working hard to the bone… It was a good run, to say the least. I would have hoped my exit was on my terms, something with more dignity but such is my fate,’ she wrote.  

‘Well, it happened. I am out at Twitter,’ former Washington DC news curator Ryan Carey-Mahoney wrote.  

‘My wonderful curation team has been gutted, too. some of my all-time best colleagues. 

‘I’ll be honest: I’m devastated and wouldn’t wish this on anyone. this is the first time I’ve been jobless since I was 17. it’s scary to have such an unknown in front of you.

‘If there’s a space for me or any tweep at your company, I’d love to hear more. whatever you got, I am all ears.’

Roughly 40 employees at the Sydney Twitter office (pictured) received an email on Saturday at 1am notifying them on whether they still had a job

Roughly 40 employees at the Sydney Twitter office (pictured) received an email on Saturday at 1am notifying them on whether they still had a job

Former curation lead in New York Brian Ries wrote: ‘If you know of any leadership roles with the right mix product, news, and audience development, I’d love to hear about them.’

Ex-news curator in Seattle Kat Balleh woke up on Saturday to find she and her entire team was laid off.

‘We are writers, editors, journalists, problem solvers, and supremely empathetic communicators. We love team work, collaboration, and working together to increase public knowledge,’ she wrote.  

‘Please keep Twitter Curation in mind for any jobs that might match these skills.’

Katherine Gallo (pictured) was sacked from her role as global news deputy curation lead at Twitter

Twitter news curator Kat Balleh (pictured) woke up on Saturday to find she and her entire team was laid off

Global news deputy curator Katherine Gallo (left) and news curator Kat Balleh (right) were among the staff members who were sacked from their roles at Twitter

Ms Gallo wrote on LinkedIn that she was 'heartbroken' after receiving news she was part of the mass layoff (pictured)

Ms Gallo wrote on LinkedIn that she was ‘heartbroken’ after receiving news she was part of the mass layoff (pictured)

SBS Portuguese journalist and former Sydney Twitter employee Fernando Vives labelled the mass layoff as ‘gruesome’ and urged HR to be aware of professionals looking for new opportunities.  

‘Elon Musk’s gruesome firing of almost half of Twitter employees has also bulldozed the entire worldwide Curation team.’ she wrote. 

‘If you are a headhunter/HR looking for journalism talents in Sydney, Melbourne, São Paulo, or London, be aware that some of the best professionals in these cities are now looking for opportunities.’

Others wrote details of the 48 hours, from Friday to Sunday, would be made into documentaries and case studies about acquisitions.  

Musk told confidants he planned to slash half of Twitter’s worldwide workforce to cut costs at the social media platform, which he acquired for $US44 billion ($70 billion) last month.

Musk was pushing to find ways to pay for the mammoth deal, which he took on billions of dollars in debt and sold $15.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla – his electric car company.

Former Twitter staff labelled Elon Musk's mass-firing as 'gruesome' and urged company's to hire the sacked employees (pictured)

Former Twitter staff labelled Elon Musk’s mass-firing as ‘gruesome’ and urged company’s to hire the sacked employees (pictured)

Sydney staff received an email at 1am on Saturday, while staff in the US were made aware of their job status at 9am on Friday.

‘In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,’ the internal email read.

‘We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.’

The email then revealed: ‘everyone will receive an individual email with the subject line: Your Role at Twitter’.

Employees who kept their positions had an email sent to their Twitter address, with sacked staff receiving the next steps about their termination via their personal email address. 

Former Twitter news curator Ryan Carey-Mahoney (pictured) explained it was the first time he has been jobless since he was 17

Former Twitter news curator Ryan Carey-Mahoney (pictured) explained it was the first time he has been jobless since he was 17

Mr Mahoney wrote he was scared for the future and was 'all ears' to any company who had a job for him

Mr Mahoney wrote he was scared for the future and was ‘all ears’ to any company who had a job for him

Musk planned to cut Half of Twitters global workforce – which at the end of 2021 was roughly 7,500 employees 

Musk had already cleared out the company’s senior ranks, firing its chief executive and top finance and legal executives, along with those sitting atop the company’s advertising, marketing, and human resources divisions.

Before buying the platform, Musk tweeted that the company under his ownership ‘will be super focused on hardcore software engineering, design, infosec and server hardware’.

Musk asked users on November 2 whether advertisers should support freedom of speech or ‘political correctness’ – more than two million users voted with in the poll with nearly 80 per cent answering ‘freedom of speech’. 

Advertisers voiced concerns the platform would become inundated with the voices of bigots and conspiracy theorists after Musk announced a process would be introduced to reinstate banned accounts. 

The billionaire promised advertiser’s that Twitter would not turn into a ‘free-for-all hellscape’.

The cull follows a push from Musk (pictured, attending Heidi Klum's 21st Annual Halloween Party, 2022) to find wats to pay for the mammoth US$44 billion Twitter deal, which he took on billions of dollars in debt and sold $15.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla

The cull follows a push from Musk (pictured, attending Heidi Klum’s 21st Annual Halloween Party, 2022) to find wats to pay for the mammoth US$44 billion Twitter deal, which he took on billions of dollars in debt and sold $15.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla

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