‘Tech companies expanded a little too quickly,’ says Varadkar as Twitter to lay off Irish staff

The firm employs more than 500 people in Dublin and over 7,000 globally.

“Woke up to the sad news that I’m no longer a Tweep,” tweeted one Dublin staff member this morning.

The company sent an email to staff informing them that they would be told today whether they still have a job.

“Team, In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” the internal memo to the employees noted.

“We recognise that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.”

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said some tech companies expanding “probably too quickly” was the reason for widespread layoffs across the sector in recent days.

“My first thoughts are with the people who are going to get bad news today – whether that’s people working in Stripe or Twitter, and other companies, who are going to find out that they’re losing their jobs.

“Tech companies expanded very quickly, probably a little bit too quickly, in the past year or two and as a result of this they have to lay off some staff,” Mr Varadkar said on RTÉ’s News at One.

The Tánaiste said that despite the layoffs in Twitter and Stripe, that the “number of vacancies in the sector still outweigh the number of people looking for employment.

“A slowdown or even a downturn in the tech sector will still mean companies making profits and a lot of people working in the sector.

“One thing we’ve been sure about and careful to do in Ireland is not to become over-reliant on any one sector,” Mr Varadkar said.

Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44bn, has already made several changes to the company, starting with the firing of three of its top executives, including chief executive Parag Agrawal.

He had earlier told prospective investors that he intended to reduce the company’s staff from around 7,500 down to just over 2,000.

Mr Musk has pledged to change how the site handles content moderation since completing his takeover.

On Friday afternoon, Musk tweeted that Twitter has recently had a “massive drop in revenue” which he blamed on “activist group pressuring advertisers”.

“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.

“Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America,” Musk said.

The new Twitter boss did not publicly address the layoff of approximately half of the company’s workforce on Friday.

Musk also suggested allowing banned accounts, including that of former US president Donald Trump, back on to the site.

However, this has raised concerns among many users and advertisers, with reports suggesting that some businesses will suspend advertising with Twitter if accounts such as Mr Trump's are allowed to return.

Advertising revenue makes up the vast majority of Twitter's earnings, which is why some analysts believe Mr Musk is looking to introduce more subscription offerings as a way of generating new income.

Before completing his takeover, the billionaire said in a message to advertisers that he would not allow the platform to become a "free-for-all hellscape" despite previously describing himself as a "free speech absolutist".

His plans to overhaul the Twitter Blue subscription service so that it gives users the blue tick verification badge in exchange for a monthly fee is also reportedly set to be introduced later this month.

Labour Senator Marie Sherlock said the The manner in which Twitter employees are getting word today about their jobs is “outrageous, cruel and appalling”.

With a raft of recent announcements from some of the biggest tech and manufacturing employers in this country flagging job losses, Senator Sherlock said this has undoubtedly sent a chill throughout all other workplaces in this country.

"While political leaders were quick to be present for photocalls with Twitter, I hope they are just as quick to remind Twitter and all other companies of their legal responsibilities with regard to collective redundancies.

"Workers in a collective redundancy situation are entitled to 30 days’ notice and consultation period, and the Minister must be notified of same. It is not yet clear whether Twitter are intending to abide by this.

"The treatment of workers by certain tech companies in recent days is cruel and appalling but it is not surprising.

"No matter how many of these companies try to cloak the reality of industrial relations in their workplaces by using gimmicks and the veneer of workplace democracy, the harsh truth is that respect in the workplace place starts with workers joining a trade union. Many of these companies are stridently anti-union, and we can now see why, as they seek to discard loyal workers,” Senator Sherlock said.

The Labour spokesperson on workers’ rights said the way Elon Musk is treating employees should serve as a “wake-up call to all workers…to protect yourself and joining a union is absolutely crucial”.

Louise O’Reilly, Sinn Féin spokesperson on workers’ rights, said understanding Musk’s previous dealings with workers means this move “has not come as a surprise”, but said the way workers have been notified of job losses has caused a significant amount of anger. “It is up to the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, as the Minister responsible, to ensure that fair procedures and all statutory consultation processes are followed by the company. “The move by Twitter also reinforces the need to finally deliver collective bargaining rights for workers and trade unions. The need for legislatively-protected collective bargaining has never been greater. “An ideology of neoliberalism with hugely damaging consequences for workers and families has reigned across Ireland and Europe for too long. We have witnessed a race to the bottom in terms and conditions of work, an increase in low paid work and the marginalisation of trade unions and workplace democracy. “Workers’ rights must be given priority and firm legal protections enacted, otherwise workers will continue to suffer. Only by giving workers the tools to bargain for themselves can they have a chance of living decent and happy lives,” Deputy O’Reilly said.

Twitter employees vented their frustrations about the layoffs on the social network, using the hashtag #OneTeam.

User Rachel Bonn tweeted: "Last Thursday in the SF [San Francisco] office, really the last day Twitter was Twitter. 8 months pregnant and have a 9 month old. Just got cut off from laptop access."

Responding to the #OneTeam thread, Twitter's head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth, said: "Tweeps: My DMs (direct message routes) are always open to you. Tell me how I can help."

Mr Roth was the most senior executive to message publicly with a tweet of support for staff who are losing their jobs.

He also appeared to still have his job. Last week, Mr Musk endorsed Mr Roth, citing his "high integrity" after he was called out over tweets critical of former US president Donald Trump years earlier.

Mr Roth did not respond to a request for comment.