Twitter Mass Layoff Hits African Team, No Severance Package Offered

Following the mass layoffs currently being undertaken by social media platform Twitter under its new ownership led by Elon Musk, the company’s Africa team woke up on Friday morning to see what they describe as shocking: the company’s office in Accra, Ghana, offloaded almost all of its staff on the continent. This comes just a few days after the company’s office was opened in Accra, Ghana.

It will be noted that Twitter decided to have its office in Accra, the capital of Ghana, as part of its growth strategy to grow and expand its reach to Africa, due to what the social media company described as the presence of a vibrant and stable democracy. 

Unfortunately for the new staff members, their sack comes after working for just over a year away from the office, and days after opening. 

According to one of the staff, they were logged off their official email, and their official laptops stopped working on Friday morning. The decision to sack them was conveyed to them via a personal email, even though no name was mentioned in the mail sent to them.

In its response, Twitter said the decision to take this step boiled down to the company’s need to reorganise its operations by cutting 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,” the direction of people’s services at Twitter’s Dublin Office, Ireland wrote via email.

He added that the sacked workers will be placed on garden leave until their termination date, which is the 4th day of December, 2022. while the remaining staff will receive full payment of their salaries and other benefits until December. 

He added that the remaining staff are not allowed to interact or communicate with other staff, clients, or suppliers of the company. They must also make themselves available to the organisation in case their services are needed and also when it’s time for the proper handing over of files and other properties belonging to the social media company.

It is expected that the company’s workforce, who have been sacked by the company, not just in Africa alone but in other countries, will get severance benefits as a result of the termination of their contract, but this may not be so after all.

According to Elon Musk, everyone who got fired will get at least three months of severance benefits in America. But its staff in Africa are yet to know their fate as regards the severance package, which will be given to their counterparts who had worked with the same company in America. 

Its African staff, however, are left in the dark with no memo or email sent to them regarding the next steps. 

Twitter’s decision to keep mute has some individuals and organisations on the continent, especially in Ghana, talking. Some lawyers in the country have questioned this decision by the company, pointing out that the action by Twitter has gone against Ghanaian employment laws, and they may be instituting legal actions against it.