- Contractors working at Twitter lost access to company systems on Saturday night.
- Shortly after, they got an email notifying them that they were laid off, two sources told Insider.
Some Twitter contractors realised they'd been laid off when they lost access to their work email and Slack accounts on Saturday night, two sources told Insider.
The news was first reported by Axios.
The laid-off contractors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Insider they did not receive the email until after they realized they'd been locked out of their accounts on Saturday night.
The Twitter workers, employed by Surya Systems, received an email notifying them that they lost their jobs about an hour later, the sources said, adding that those affected worked in content moderation and engineering.
The contractors were told that their assignment at Twitter had ended due to a "reprioritization and savings exercise" and that their last day at the company was Monday. The email notified them that their badge and system access was "shut off immediately."
Twitter and Surya Systems did not reply to a request for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.
"I don't understand how they didn't learn from their previous week's debacle of laying off full-time employees without telling them," one worker told Insider. "It might not seem like a big deal, but I don't think it's appropriate to treat employees like this (again)."
Elon Musk took control of Twitter late last month and had laid off about half its full-time employees by November 4. Like the contractors, staff members also realized they lost their job when they were locked out of their Slack and email accounts.
Read the full email that Twitter contractors received notifying them that they were laid off:
As you may be aware of, Twitter has conducted a reprioritization and saving exercise in an effort to better focus during this period of resource constraints.
Please allow this communication to serve as notice on behalf of your employer on record that your assignment at Twitter has ended as part of the reprioritization and savings exercise.
In order to maintain Twitter confidential information and for security reasons, your system and badge access will be shut off immediately.
Your last day at Twitter will be Monday, November 14th. You will not be expected to perform any services on November 14th. You will receive your final pay from November 7th through November 14th. Please ensure that any time cards and expenses that are outstanding are submitted into Magnit VMS immediately.
As a reminder, you have signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement; please remember that all intellectual property information associated with your assignment, business practices, or your specific project is strictly confidential during and after your Contract.
If you have any questions, please reach out to your employer Surya Systems, Inc.
Thank you for your service to Twitter,
Magnit Team