JAKARTA – Twitter Inc. CEO, Parag Agrawal, attempted to quell employee anger on Friday, April 29, during a Town Hall Meeting where employees demanded answers about how managers plan to deal with the anticipated mass exodus following Elon Musk's entry.
The meeting came after Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc., had secured a $44 billion deal to buy the social media company. Musk has repeatedly criticized Twitter's content moderation practices and the existence of a top executive responsible for setting speech and safety policies on the platform.
At a previous internal Town Hall Meeting, which was also heard by Reuters, executives said the company would monitor staff reductions daily. But it's too soon to say how the purchase deal with Musk will affect staff retention.
Musk has proposed to his financier bank to acquire Twitter in several ways. Among these are deductions from the salaries of board members and executive salaries. But the exact cost-cutting remains unclear. One source on Twitter said Musk would not decide on the termination until he took full ownership of Twitter.
"I'm tired of hearing about shareholder value and fiduciary obligations. What is your honest opinion about the very high probability that many employees will be out of work once the deal closes?" said one Twitter employee who asked Agrawal during the meeting.
Unfortunately, Agrawal only answered normatively, that Twitter has always cared about its employees and will continue to do so.
"I believe the Twitter organization of the future will continue to care about its impact on the world and its customers", Agrawal said.
The Executive Board said during the meeting that the rate of layoffs was unchanged compared to pre-news levels of Musk's interest in buying the company.
In recent days, Musk has been tweeting criticism of Twitter's top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, who is a Twitter veteran and widely respected in Silicon Valley. Musk's attack sparked a barrage of online harassment targeting him over the years. While Twitter did nothing about it.
Employees also told executives they were concerned Musk's erratic behavior could destabilize Twitter's business. It could even cost him financially as the company prepares to speak to the advertising world at a presentation next week in New York City.
"Do we have a strategy soon for how to deal with advertisers attracting investment?" asked an employee.
Sarah Personette, Twitter's chief customer officer, said the company is working to communicate with advertisers frequently and assure them "the way we serve our customers has not changed."
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After the meeting, a Twitter employee told Reuters there was little faith in what the executives said.
"The PR talks didn't land. They told us not to divulge and do a job you're proud of, but there's no clear incentive for employees to do this", the employee told Reuters. He also noted that compensation for non-executive staff is now limited by an agreement.
Agrawal is estimated to receive $42 million if he is laid off within 12 months of a change of control at the social media company, according to research firm Equilar.
During the meeting, Agrawal urged staff to look forward to future changes under the new leadership. He also acknowledged that the company could perform better over the years.
"Yes, we can do different and better things. I can do different things. I think about it a lot", he said. Twitter itself declined further comment on the matter.
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