Twitter shocks employees by firing a third of its recruitment team before Elon Musk arrives

Twitter would not say exactly how many employees had been fired nor share the specifics of their severance packages

(Getty Images)

Twitter has fired 30 per cent of its recruitment team in a move that shocked employees.

The social media company confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch, but would not say exactly how many employees had been fired nor share the specifics of their severance packages.

The Independent understands that Twitter revoked the employees’ access to online resources while in their redundancy meeting.

The move comes as other technology companies are also pausing hiring programs. Recently Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees that they should expect higher turnover rates.

"Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here," Mr Zuckerberg said.

"Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me."

Within Twitter itself, other high-ranking employees have also been unexpectedly fired. Kayvon Beykpour and Bruce Falck, the company’s former head of Consumer Product and head of Revenue, respectively, were fired in May.

In an email to staff chief executive Parag Agrawal said that changes were happening to Twitter - some that were in their control, and others that were not. He added that these changes would be hard but they were right for the company, and that it was vital to have correct leadership in this moment.

The move comes ahead of billionaire Elon Musk taking over the company in a $44 billion deal. It is expected that Mr Musk would become chief executive of Twitter once the deal is secure between three to six months from now. It is likely Mr Agrawal will also lose his position in Twitter.

Mr Musk has said that Twitter “does need to get healthy,” implying further job losses. “Right now the costs exceed the revenue.”

But he told staff that “anyone who is a signification contributor has nothing to worry about.”

However, Mr Musk’s deal could be in peril, after reports suggested Mr Musk had stopped “engaging in certain discussions” around the deal after he could not verify the company’s bot numbers.