Jack Dorsey apologizes for Twitter's fast growth, following Musk layoffs

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2022
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has apologized in a tweet for supposedly growing the company "too quickly," one day after Elon Musk-driven layoffs cut the workforce in half.

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On Friday, Twitter's 7,500 employees discovered via email whether they still had a job under the ownership of Elon Musk, or if they were part of the estimated 3,700 people who will apparently be let go. Following the round of layoffs, one of Twitter's co-founders spoke about the event.

"Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient," tweeted co-founder Jack Dorsey on Saturday. "They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment."

Dorsey acknowledges accusations that the company was bloated with employees and was losing money. "I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly, I apologize for that."

In a follow-up tweet, he continues stating "I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment or ever and I understand."

Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.

-- jack (@jack)


Jack Dorsey stepped away from his role as CEO in November 2021, after his second stint in the position. He was followed by Parag Agrawal, who was ousted quickly after Musk took ownership of the company.

The layoffs saw teams gutted of employees partially or completely, with notifications sent via email. Departing employees were offered three months of severance, while murmors of a class-action lawsuit raised in volume to combat the sudden firings.

In justifying the layoffs, Musk tweeted Friday that there "is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day."

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Tech blogs always hate the bean counters but without counting the beans businesses usually fail eventually. Hate Tim Cook if you want, go right ahead and hate him. Hate Elon Musk if you want, go right ahead and hate him.
    entropyswatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 18
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 932member
    With most other CEO’s I’d figure their lawyers had okayed the cut process; with Musk? Totally possible he’s violating California employment law on a whim. 
    twokatmewmagman1979darkvadernapoleon_phoneapartdrdavidblastdoordanoxmacguiwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 18
    The savings from crippling the company by getting rid of its workers is a drop in the bucket compared to Elmo's losses.

    I am so looking forward to this jackass selling the boondoggle for pennies on the dollar in a year or two.
    M68000magman1979darkvaderFred257drdavidITGUYINSDJP234williamlondondanoxmacgui
  • Reply 4 of 18
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    JFC_PA said:
    With most other CEO’s I’d figure their lawyers had okayed the cut process; with Musk? Totally possible he’s violating California employment law on a whim. 
    I googled California's employment laws to see what you might be referring to. All I could find that seemed relevant was this:

    Final Pay
    An employer must pay final wages immediately to an employee who is terminated and upon resignation to an employee who provides at least 72 hours' notice of the intent to resign. If an employee provides fewer than 72 hours' notice of the intent to resign, then an employer may generally mail final wages within 72 hours.
    California law does not permit "use it or lose it" vacation policies. Vacation accruals may be capped, but may not be forfeited. Therefore, unused, accrued vacation must be paid out at the end of employment.
    Wages owed to a deceased employee must be paid to the surviving spouse or conservator of the estate. Probate of the will need not have occurred before payment is made. The employer must pay up to $15,000 net for wages due for personal services and unused vacation time. The party requesting payment must present to the employer reasonable proof of identity and an affidavit or a declaration under penalty of perjury making certain statements of fact.
    References
    California law affords a qualified privilege to an employer who communicates about a former employee's job performance or qualifications to a prospective employer. The communication must be made in good faith.
    Mass Layoff Notifications
    The California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (Cal-WARN Act) provides employees and their families time to prepare for a prospective job loss by requiring an employer to provide advance notice of a plant closing or mass layoff. While the state law is modeled after the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), there are areas in which they differ, such as the definition of covered employer.
    Be aware that where there is overlap between federal, state and/or local law, complying with the law that offers the greatest rights or benefits to the employee will generally apply.

    Of course, Twitter has employees in other US states, and your point probably applies only to the employees in California.

    boxcatcher
  • Reply 5 of 18
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    I read the email sent to CA employees and they did say they will pay them until Feb as per the law in CA. 
    williamlondon
  • Reply 6 of 18
    lkrupp said:
    Tech blogs always hate the bean counters but without counting the beans businesses usually fail eventually. Hate Tim Cook if you want, go right ahead and hate him. Hate Elon Musk if you want, go right ahead and hate him.
    Lol. You think a competent accountant would have anything to do with this fiasco? This isn’t the bean counters doing. Dude overpaid by 20 billion dollars and promptly alienated the users AND the advertisers. 

    If people hate him it’s because he turned Twitter into 4chan. 
    ITGUYINSDwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 18
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    I saw a lot of Tweets the other day with the #deactivate hashtag. Most of those posters were complaining that the Twitter system was not letting them deactivate their accounts. Unsurprising.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 18
    welshdog said:
    I saw a lot of Tweets the other day with the #deactivate hashtag. Most of those posters were complaining that the Twitter system was not letting them deactivate their accounts. Unsurprising.
    My bet is that over 90% put that hashtag there as some sort of lazy activism, but most of them will never proceed to actually deactivate. They are reeled in too much into Twitter’s ecosystem.
    Twitter is losing $4M everyday so something has to change and Elon’s strategy will either fail completely or succeed completely. 

    Jack’s statement fall flat - it’s easy to apologize with billions on the bank. 
    lkruppwilliamlondonravnorodomentropyswatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 18
    lkrupp said:
    Tech blogs always hate the bean counters but without counting the beans businesses usually fail eventually. Hate Tim Cook if you want, go right ahead and hate him. Hate Elon Musk if you want, go right ahead and hate him.
    So is Tim Cook a 'bean counter'...?  It used to seem such was discussed as an essential and supporting role in the design leadership of Apple in a kind of triumvirate alongside Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, with design and customer experience as guiding priorities...

    Is the bigger challenge when things become unbalanced...?  

    The monetization of all things Apple has arguably been a remarkable quantifiable success, for what that may be worth, and in isolation, and at what 'cost'...

    Did (or should) Apple ever try and find a replacement for and (re) balance the roles that made Apple such a design success...?
    decoderringwilliamlondonelijahgwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 18
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    lkrupp said:
    Tech blogs always hate the bean counters but without counting the beans businesses usually fail eventually. Hate Tim Cook if you want, go right ahead and hate him. Hate Elon Musk if you want, go right ahead and hate him.
    Yup...at the end of the day these are all companies and they need to make money. So while they may make decisions you don't agree with you have to come at their decision from their perspective sometimes.  
    dewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 18
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,480member
    welshdog said:
    I saw a lot of Tweets the other day with the #deactivate hashtag. Most of those posters were complaining that the Twitter system was not letting them deactivate their accounts. Unsurprising.
    My bet is that over 90% put that hashtag there as some sort of lazy activism, but most of them will never proceed to actually deactivate. They are reeled in too much into Twitter’s ecosystem.
    Twitter is losing $4M everyday so something has to change and Elon’s strategy will either fail completely or succeed completely. 

    Jack’s statement fall flat - it’s easy to apologize with billions on the bank. 
    When Multibillion dollar companies are purchased using leveraged debt like this, the company is automatically I’m the whole. Look at Toys R Us. They were purchased in the same way and then saddled with debt as the new owners extracted value. Suddenly I’m this case, I highly profitable company was run into the ground within a few years and had to close all stores because, wait for it they were now loosing money. 
    danoxwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 18
    danoxdanox Posts: 2,804member
    Twitter a 44 billion dollar Potemkin village worthless and profitless when Elon looses interest see ya….Watch out below.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 18
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    Elon’s strategy will either fail completely or succeed completely. 
    Well that's a brilliant financial analysis. You really stuck your neck out on that one.
    drdavid
  • Reply 14 of 18
    bluefire1bluefire1 Posts: 1,301member
    I have always enjoyed Twitter, and rather then wish Musk to fail, I hope he succeeds.
    edited November 2022 entropyswatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 18
    macxpress said:
    lkrupp said:
    Tech blogs always hate the bean counters but without counting the beans businesses usually fail eventually. Hate Tim Cook if you want, go right ahead and hate him. Hate Elon Musk if you want, go right ahead and hate him.
    Yup...at the end of the day these are all companies and they need to make money. So while they may make decisions you don't agree with you have to come at their decision from their perspective sometimes.  
    Huh, companies need to make money. Thanks for bringing that to everyone’s attention. What are your thoughts on an unprofitable company being purchased for  20 billion dollars more than it’s worth?
  • Reply 16 of 18
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    It’s always possible Musk is doing this for reasons other than making money. 
    Maybe he will be satisfied with making it slightly less of a sewer.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 18
    geekmeegeekmee Posts: 629member
    Mistakes were made…
    but not by me!
    watto_cobra
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