Twitter CEO Faces Employee Wrath Over Musk's Attacks On Workers

Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal sought to quell employee anger on Friday during a company-wide meeting where employees demanded answers to how managers planned to handle an anticipated mass exodus prompted by Elon Musk, Sheila Dang and Katie Pauk reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal's meeting with irate employees comes after Musk, the Tesla chief executive, repeatedly criticized Twitter's content moderation practices and a top executive responsible for setting speech and safety policies.

The meeting comes after Musk, the Tesla chief executive who sealed a $44 billion deal to buy the social media company, repeatedly criticized 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.

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 behavior 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.

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