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Mass redundancies at Twitter affect Africa office in Accra
Mass redundancies at Twitter affect Africa office in Accra

Mass redundancies at Twitter affect Africa office in Accra, Ghana

Some workers at Twitter's first Africa base in Ghana have been affected by mass redundancies at Twitter Inc., following a move by billionaire Elon Musk to drive down costs following his $44 billion acquisition.

According to multiple reports, Twitter staff across the globe will over the course of today find out in corporate emails whether they are part of the 3,700 who will lose their jobs.

Musk also intends to reverse the company’s existing work-from-anywhere policy, asking remaining employees to report to offices -- though some exceptions could be made, a source told Bloomberg.

One of the employees affected by the cull in Ghana is Senior Partner Manager, Bernard Kafui Sokpe who has been employed in the role for over a year.

Describing his employment at Twitter as his best career experience, Mr Sokpe added that "it was beautiful whilst it lasted".

He tweeted: "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 for 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. #OneTeam".

Some users of the microblog have been congratulating Mr Sokpe who was responsible for partnerships with focus on news, sports, influential creators and entertainment for his exploits during his term with Twitter.

Meanwhile Fox News reports that a class-action lawsuit was filed against Twitter on Thursday on behalf of workers claiming the company’s intended layoffs violate a United States federal law requiring 60 days' notice for employees.

A week after Musk finalized his purchase of Twitter, a letter went out to employees saying about half of the company’s 7,500-person workforce will be losing their jobs starting Friday.

"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," Thursday's email to employees read, according to the Washington Post.

"We recognize 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."

Several top executives have already left the company amid the impending layoffs, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and policy chief Vijaya Gadde.

Background

Twitter announced in April 2021 that it was setting up its first its African headquarters in Ghana.

Reacting to the announcement which was made by Twitter’s co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Jack Dorsey, on Twitter last Monday, the President said the development was the start of a partnership that would help develop Ghana's technological sector.

President Akufo-Addo also revealed that he held a virtual meeting with Mr Dorsey on April 7, 2021, before the deal was finalised.

Twitter said it chose Ghana for its African office because it was "a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet".

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