Twitter Lays Off Majority Of Africa Office Without Offering Severance

Twitter has laid off almost all of its African employees, without any indication of severance pay. The layoffs in Twitter’s African branch, which is located in Ghana, happened only four days after the office in Accra reopened after being closed for about a year. Prior to that, all employees had been working remotely. According to CNN, only one employee had been retained in the Ghana office after mass terminations.

This recent development could count as illegal termination; there has been no mention of any severance package for employees working in the company office in Accra. And, according to Ghanan employment laws, at least three months of notice before termination is required.

According to CNN’s international correspondent Larry Modowo, Twitter’s laid-off employees in Africa were notified on Tuesday shortly after they arrived at the office to find themselves locked out of their corporate email accounts. Employees‘ company laptops were also deactivated without notice. African Twitter workers were notified of their layoffs through their personal email addresses. In a general email to all the African staff, the company said it is reorganizing operations and needs to cut costs.

“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,” said the Twitter Africa staff-wide email sent by the director of people services.

Over the last week, the social media giant also laid off a significant number of its U.S workforce. But, the manner in which Twitter cut off its African workers vastly differs from the way that it laid off its U.S. staff, who had at least three months’ severance pay.

One former African employee described the entire situation as “insulting,” and alluded to the fact that the termination was impersonal.

“They didn’t even have the courtesy to address me by name. The email just said ‘see attached’ and yet they used my name when they gave me an offer,” the former employee anonymously told CNN. ​

Two weeks ago, Elon Musk completed his $44 Billion purchase of Twitter. Since then, Musk has been desperately trying to cut down cost, which has led to critics questioning how Musk is reshaping the social media app.​