Twitter Lays Off Entire Staff in Africa Without Severance; Facebook Lays Off 11,000

Less than a week after opening its only African office in Ghana, Twitter has laid off all but one employee while Facebook announced that it laid off 11,000 employees.

Business Insider South Africa reports Twitter employees found out they were laid off via emails or by being abruptly locked out of their employee accounts. In a since-deleted tweet, Twitter CEO Elon Musk said that employees were offered three months’ severance.

However, CNN international correspondent Larry Madowo tweeted that employees in Ghana were told they were being laid off without additional information or an exit packet and were not offered the same severance as U.S employees.

"The company is reorganizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs. It is with regret that we’re writing to inform you that your employment is terminating as a result of this exercise," the email told Twitter Africa staff. And then silence

— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) November 8, 2022

Twitter’s Ghana office officially opened November 1. Three days later, staff members were locked out of their email accounts and their work laptops stopped functioning. Twitter also laid off employees and closed its office in Japan and laid off 90% of its staff in India.

Twitter isn’t the only social media giant that recently announced layoffs. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a letter sent to employees this week that Facebook is laying off 11,000 employees or 11% of its staff. The social media site has also instituted a hiring freeze through Q1 of 2023.

“Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter.

“I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13 percent and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1.”

Meta’s investors are concerned about the rising costs and expenses at the company and the slow start of its Oculus headset, which could have major future implications, especially for jobs that require significant training such as flying or the medical field. However, the headset’s $400 price tag is leaving it out of touch for most individuals and companies.

Amazon has not announced layoffs but has instituted a hiring freeze that could last months.

Amazon “will continue to monitor what we’re seeing in the economy and the business to adjust as we think makes sense,” Beth Galetti, the senior vice president of people experience and technology, said according to KIRO7. “We’re facing an unusual macro-economic environment, and want to balance our hiring and investments with being thoughtful about this economy.”