Elon Musk closes two of Twitter India’s three offices and sends employees home
Twitter laid off more than 90% of its employees in India last year, now closed offices in the political capital of New Delhi and the financial capital of Mumbai
Twitter Inc. has closed two of its three India offices and directed employees to work from home, highlighting Elon Musk’s mission to cut costs and turn the struggling social media service profitable.
Twitter, which fired more than 90% of its roughly 200-plus employees in India late last year, closed offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, according to people familiar with the situation. According to the people who declined to be identified because the information is private, the company continues to operate an office in Bengaluru’s southern tech hub that primarily houses engineers.
Billionaire CEO Elon Musk has fired employees and closed offices around the world to get Twitter financially stable by late 2023. Nonetheless, India is viewed as a key growth market for US tech behemoths ranging from Meta Platforms Inc. to Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which are placing long-term bets on the world’s fastest-growing internet arena. Musk’s recent moves indicate that he is placing less emphasis on the market for the time being.
Twitter has grown into one of India’s most important public forums in recent years, hosting the heated political debate and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 86.5 million followers. However, revenue there is insignificant for Musk’s company, which also faces strict content regulations and increasingly savvy local competition.
Twitter did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Since Musk’s acquisition, there has been a mass exodus of employees, many of whom have been fired, raising concerns about Twitter’s ability to continue operations and regulate content. Musk recently stated that he may need until the end of the year to stabilize the company and ensure its financial health.
Twitter has failed to pay millions of dollars in rent for its San Francisco headquarters and London offices since the $44 billion buyout, has been sued by multiple contractors for unpaid services, and has auctioned off everything from bird statues to espresso machines to raise funds.
Musk has also openly discussed bankruptcy, citing a “massive drop” in revenue as advertisers fled due to concerns about Twitter’s ability to weed out unwanted content. The platform has also been plagued by significant glitches and outrages, the most recent of which occurred just this month.
