Elon-Musk owned Twitter has scalped the company’s staff in India, just another victim to his decisions hitting hard working people across the world.
This is part of the owner’s pursuit to slash costs and get the struggling company back to financial stability by this year’s end.
Bengaluru spared
Just last year the company in India had sacked over 90 per cent of its roughly 200-plus staff and shut its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
It continues to operate an office in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru that mostly houses engineers, the only one in India.
India isn’t the only country where Twitter offices are being shut, rather it is just one of many where CEO Elon Musk has fired employees and closed offices.
India not big enough apparently
Weirdly enough India is regarded as a key growth market for US tech giants from Meta to Google which are making long-term bets on the world’s fastest-growing internet market.
So Musk’s latest move can be taken as indication that he doesn’t see India as a very important market right now.
Layoffs still ineffective
Despite this round of mass layoffs Twitter is finding it difficult to maintain operations and regulate content.
This week the South African owner said he may need till the end of the year to stabilize the company and make sure it’s financially healthy.
It remains to be seen how this goes.
Company in the red
Since the $44 billion buyout, Twitter has failed to pay millions of dollars in rent for its San Francisco headquarters and London offices, been sued by multiple contractors over unpaid services, and auctioned off everything from bird statues to espresso machines to raise money.
Musk has also openly floated the idea of bankruptcy, and cited a “massive drop” in revenue as advertisers fled over concerns about Twitter’s ability to weed out undesirable content.
Cherry on top, the platform has also experienced significant glitches and outrages, most recently just this month.
Massive political presence in India
To wrap things up, the company’s Indian office remains operational albeit with challenges to contend with.
Twitter has evolved in recent years into one of India’s most political forums expertly managed by, among many, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has an account with 86.5 million followers.
But this hasn’t converted to revenue on the platform which also has to contend with strict content regulations and increasingly savvy local competition.
Dystopian scenario
An exodus of workers — many of whom were fired — since Musk’s acquisition has raised concerns about whether Twitter can sustain its operations and regulate content.
Unfortunately the very people attempting to keep this sinking ship afloat have to pay for the incompetence and ego of a reckless and immature custodian of a gigantic social media house.
Stepping down apparently
Musk announced that he will step down as the Twitter CEO at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
“I need to stabilize the organization and just make sure it’s in a financially healthy place, and the product roadmap is clearly laid out,” said Musk.
“I don’t know, (but) I’m guessing probably towards the end of this year (for the new CEO).”
