The meeting comes after Musk, the Tesla chief executive who
sealed a $44 billion deal to buy the social media company, repeatedly
criticised Twitter's content moderation practices and a top executive
responsible for setting speech and safety policies.
At the internal town hall meeting, which was heard by
Reuters, executives said the company would monitor staff attrition daily, but
it was too soon to tell how the buyout deal with Musk would affect staff
retention.
Musk has pitched lenders on slashing board and executive
salaries but exact cost cuts remain unclear, according to sources familiar with
the matter. One source said Musk would not make decisions on job cuts until he
assumes ownership of Twitter.
"I'm tired of hearing about shareholder value and
fiduciary duty. What are your honest thoughts about the very high likelihood
that many employees will not have jobs after the deal closes?" one Twitter
employee asked Agrawal, in a question read aloud during the meeting.
Agrawal answered that Twitter has always cared about its
employees and would continue to do so.
"I believe the future Twitter organization will
continue to care about its impact on the world and its customers," he
said.
Executives said during the meeting that the employee
attrition rate has not changed compared to the levels before the news of Musk's
interest in buying the company.
In recent days, Musk has tweeted criticism of Twitter's top
lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, who is a Twitter veteran and widely-respected across
Silicon Valley. Musk's attack triggered a barrage of online harassment
targeting her.
Employees also told executives they feared Musk's erratic
behaviour could destabilize Twitter's business, and hurt it financially as the
company prepares to address the advertising world in a presentation next week
in New York City.
"Do we have a strategy in the near-term on how to handle
advertisers pulling investment," one employee asked.
Sarah Personette, Twitter's chief customer officer, said the
company was working to communicate frequently with advertisers and reassure
them "the way that we service our customers is not changing."
After the meeting, a Twitter employee told Reuters there was
little trust in what executives had to say.
"The PR speak is not landing. They told us don't leak
and do a job you are proud of, but there is no clear incentive for employees to
do this," the employee told Reuters, noting that compensation for
non-executive staffers is now capped because of the deal.
Agrawal is estimated to receive $42 million if he were
terminated within 12 months of a change in control at the social media company,
according to research firm Equilar.
During the meeting, Agrawal urged staff to expect change in
the future under new leadership, and acknowledged that the company could have
performed better over the years.
"Yes, we could have done things differently and better.
I could have done things differently. I think about that a lot," he said.
Twitter declined further comment. © Reuters
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