Twitter UK Staff Given Notice For Cuts Consultation

Matthew Broersma,
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Twitter UK staff given three days to nominate representative for consultation amidst mass layoffs by new owner Elon Musk

Twitter staff in the UK have reportedly been given three days to nominate someone to represent them in a formal employment consultation, ahead of expected mass layoffs.

The move comes as new Twitter owner Elon Musk begins sackings expected to affect around half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees worldwide.

Over the weekend Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey apologised for the staff cuts, saying he believed he had expanded the 16-year-old social media service too quickly.

twitter, social mediaConsultation

UK employment law requires a 45-day consultation for layoffs that affect more than 100 people.

An email sent by Twitter’s European human resources department on Friday night told staff they had until 9 a.m. on Tuesday to nominate a person to represent the staff affected by the proposed cuts, the BBC reported. Staff can nominate themselves.

If employees nominate more than 10 people as potential representatives an election will be held, the email said.

A senior official at union Prospect was quoted by the BBC as saying three days is a very short time frame for staff to organise representation, especially since they have been locked out of corporate communications platforms such as Slack and work emails.

Layoffs

Seven days was a “reasonable” time frame, the person said, adding that there is no official rule.

Prospect said it now has “dozens” of Twitter UK staff members on its books following the layoff announcement.

Musk also fired Twitter’s senior executive team and dissolved its board of directors following the $44 billion (£39bn) acquisition, which completed late last month.

On Saturday afternoon Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey apologised for the situation in a tweet, saying he was “grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter”.

‘I own the responsibility’

“Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment,” he wrote.

“I realise many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologise for that.”