As automation grows more prominent in the modern world, the workforce for big business is seeing some serious effects. Already, 2022 has seen massive layoffs in the tech industry, as companies ranging from Peloton to Microsoft have been firing employees en masse. Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, layoffs in the tech industry have become even more common, and even larger in scale. When Musk purchased Twitter, he sought to make the company as profitable as possible, as fast as possible. So, on November 4th, an automated email was sent to ~3,700 Twitter employees, informing them they were fired, and automatically signing them out of their workplace accounts. 

Musk has publicly expressed little remorse for his cuts in Twitter’s workforce, Tweeting “Unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day”. Now, other big names in the tech industry are following in the footsteps of Twitter, laying off employees en masse. On November 9th, Meta (previously known as FaceBook) laid off 1,100 employees, while Amazon cut a staggering 10,000 employees on the 14th. Many employees have taken their situation to social media websites, predominantly Twitter, to share their situation. While a fiery backlash from the previous employees was expected, the mood on November 4th couldn’t have been more different. 

The majority of employees expressed their disappointment in their situation, but also respect for the company, generally taking a positive approach to the situation. One ex-employee tweeted, “Twitter was the first corporate company I worked for where I didn’t feel alone. That’s because of the amazing people I worked with! You wouldn’t fully understand the culture unless you were there”, while another stated “It’s official I’m out. Absolutely enjoyed my time and being able to be me everyday at work. My team has been fantastic and grateful I had the pleasure of working with them. 

Corporate layoffs have already been prominent in the tech industry this year, with more and more tech giants following Twitter’s example and firing unprecedented amounts of employees. While the future is unclear for the workers in the tech industry, it certainly looks grim.