Twitter’s Africa Office in Ghana hit by mass layoffs, 3 days after workers resumed

Barely three days after workers resumed officially at Twitter’s Africa Office in Ghana, many of them have been sacked as part of the mass layoffs announced by Elon Musk. 

It is not certain how many workers have been affected at the Africa Office. But earlier, it was reported that the social media company planned to cut about 3,700 of its workforce.

On Friday, many Twitter workers in the US could not log in to the company’s system after a notice announced the impending layoffs. 

Twitter Africa Office: Although Twitter announced the establishment of its Africa Office in Ghana last year, most of its African employees worked from their respective homes and countries over a year.

Earlier this week, they all resumed for the first time at the Ghana Office. A Senior Partner Manager at Twitter Ghana and Nigeria announced this on Twitter.

He said: “A year ago Twitter entered Africa via Ghana. Today we officially opened Twitter’s Africa HQ in Accra, and for the first time, all Tweeps in the region left their home desks and convened to work as #OneTeam. Worth celebrating amidst all the back-to-back news headlines.” 

Today, the Senior Partner Manager also announced on Twitter that he was fired alongside others via a tweet.

“It’s been a year working at a place I never imagined I’ll ever get to work. I’m glad that I could represent Africa & I didn’t let us down. My best career experience by far & it was beautiful whilst it lasted. Much love to all the amazing tweeps that made it worth it,” he tweeted. 

Mixed reactions: Meanwhile, many of the affected staff have taken to the microblogging site to react. While some appreciated the opportunity to work with the company, others lamented the abrupt end to their job.

A former Senior Engineer at Twitter, Joan Deitchman, wrote: “Yep, the team is gone. The team that was researching and pushing for algorithmic transparency and algorithmic choice. The team that was studying algorithmic amplification. The team that was inventing and building ethical AI tooling and methodologies. All that is gone.” 

Another ex-staff affected by the layoff, Rumman Chowdhury, tweeted that it was “a bittersweet phase – not because I’m gone, but because it’s gone.”  

Kara Rosenberg Tweeted: “I Can finally say how it feels to #lovewhereyouworked. What a wild ending to the job of a lifetime. Thank you for everything, Twitter.” 

Cristina Angeli wrote: “It’s official. It’s been an honour. Twitter Studio Managing Director Out. So much love to the team that rode the wave with me. Put up with my slack sappy love notes. Navigated big challenges + created award-winning work. Onward we go. Tweep fam 4 life.” 

Another affected employee who has spent 9 years with the company, who simply identified herself as Regina, tweeted:“I never imagined my time here would end like this. Forever thankful for the 9+ years tweeps.” 

Twitter sued: Earlier today, some of the affected employees filed a lawsuit challenging the short notice given to them by Twitter before the layoffs. The lawsuit is relying on the U.S. Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which restricts large companies from mounting mass layoffs without at least 60 days of advance notice. 

The lawsuit asks the court to issue an order requiring Twitter to obey the WARN Act, and restricting the company from soliciting employees to sign documents that could give up their right to participate in litigation.