Twitter let go of a sizeable number of contract workers over the weekend (Jan 6/7) with some 4,400 of its 5,500 contract workers finding out they were retrenched when they lost access to Slack and other internal employee systems.
According to a CNBC report full time employees and internal teams had no idea that contract workers they were collaborating with would soon be let go. Some of them were based in India among other overseas locations.
Dispensable Contract Workers?
The cancellation of contract workers is the latest exercise in the downsizing of Twitter which already laid off half of its employees following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company on Oct 28.
Musk also told the remaining employees that he has sold billions of dollars worth of shares in Tesla to “save” Twitter. It remains unknown whether Musk will continue to sell Tesla shares to pay Twitter’s debt.
He also told Twitter employees that bankruptcy is not out of the question for social media business in view of the economic downturn. Obviously, in his revamp of the company, contract workers are next to go.
Meanwhile Tesla shareholders are really angry with Musk as the stock continues to tumble. Chinese American investor Leo KoGuan who claims to be Tesla’s third largest retail shareholder has been going after Musk on a daily basis.
KoGuan wrote, “I am 100% in Tesla bc I believe in Elon Musk and Tesla. But he is killing SH and Tesla. If I knew I wouldn’t invest in Tesla. Elon invested =$200mm but took out $40B, Larry invested $1B, I invested over $3B, I have no choice but to act and speak out. I cry out to U for help!”
KoGuan’s anger and revolt are due to Tesla’s stock market rout. In 2022, Tesla stock lost 65% of its value, translating to more than $600 billion in market capitalization in a year. Tesla’s market value is currently $357 billion, down from over $1 trillion at the start of 2022.
Musk says that the problem is actually macroeconomic factors like the hike in interest rates, inflation and the energy crisis but Tesla shareholders like KoGuan say the problem is actually his purchase of the $44 billion Twitter.
Seductive Beauty
“We want Elon back to Tesla, but he has new seductive beauty named Twitter. Twitter is giving him ‘dear leader’ power that he craves to decide who wins, loses and dies,” posted an angry KoGuan.
KoGuan who was formerly a fan boy of Tesla himself has drawn flak from other fanboys of the billionaire.
One Twitter user said, “Everyday you tweeted about love and how you respect him. As soon as stock plunged you revealed your face. Hope stock goes lower so we can filter people like you.”
KoGuan responded “Dude, I am protecting blind cult fan boy from themselves. I was his blind fanboy, but no more. I can’t rescue Tesla alone. We need all SH and Institutional fund managers to correct the anomaly of Tesla governance bc we love Tesla. We don’t abundant (sic) the one we love; we rescue it.”
KoGuan also said that he plans to stay a huge shareholder of Tesla.
“Here is my promise unless the great Captain Larry Ellison buys more Tesla shares to become the 2nd largest individual shareholder of Tesla by 2026. I welcome blind cult followers competing w/me who will own the most shares by 2030?”