Tough times for former Twitter employees in job hunt

Kerem Gülen
Mar 8, 2023
Twitter
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Following Elon Musk's public critique of Twitter, many former employees of the platform have struggled to secure new job opportunities. The current job market has been described by some as "hot garbage," leaving these individuals feeling frustrated and disheartened. Justine De Caires, a former Twitter engineer, has noted the particularly challenging circumstances faced by these ousted workers.

In light of the challenging job market, some former Twitter employees are now considering completely shifting their career paths. De Caires recently spoke with CNN about their personal experience with the situation and expressed their concerns regarding the state of the tech job market. The current state of affairs has led to widespread frustration among tech professionals seeking new employment opportunities.

"The market is hot garbage right now. I was sitting down earlier this week after a wave of rejections and I was kind of like, maybe I should go be a firefighter or something… because the tech jobs are just not happening," De Caires told CNN.

Last year, Justine De Caires was one of several plaintiffs involved in a legal case against Twitter. The group alleged that the severance packages offered to employees who were laid off during Elon Musk's tenure as CEO were inferior to those provided by the company in the past.

In December, De Caires and the other plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in which they claimed that they were promised by Twitter's previous leadership that the severance policy would remain the same even after Musk took over.

The group argued that previous severance packages included at least two months' pay, among other benefits. However, since Musk's takeover, laid-off employees have reportedly only been offered one month of severance pay, according to the complaint.

"Twitter employees had been promised that, should layoffs occur after the sale of the company, they would be entitled to the same benefits and severance that employees had previously received. However, following Musk's purchase of the company, Twitter reneged on this agreement," the group stated in the complaint.

Still no response from Twitter

As of Monday morning, there has been no response from Twitter's media team or representatives of Elon Musk's companies, Tesla and SpaceX, regarding the severance pay complaints filed by De Caires and other affected employees.

In addition to the issues with severance pay, these employees have also claimed that any wages earned during the period between their layoff notice and official last day at the company were not considered as part of their severance pay. In De Caires' case, they were given notice of their layoff on November 4, but their employment with Twitter officially ended on January 4, as detailed in a court filing.

De Caires' case has been moved to arbitration following the signing of an arbitration agreement during their time as a Twitter employee, a requirement that was common among other former Twitter employees as well. The California federal court confirmed this in an order issued in January.

The tech industry has recently experienced a wave of employee layoffs at various companies, including some of the industry's biggest players. As a result, the job market has become highly competitive, with many former employees struggling to find new positions.

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Comments

  1. Anonymous said on March 13, 2023 at 7:30 pm
    Reply

    Most likely, this person was part of the legions of overpaid meeting attendees that Twitter and other large tech companies have purged after years of hiring hubris. Unqualified for the role and filling a seat in an inconsequential manager’s fiefdom with no demonstrable value and unreasonable compensation expectations, making them an unattractive candidate for another company. The real world does not give participation trophies.

  2. Jake said on March 8, 2023 at 6:26 pm
    Reply

    “Following Elon Musk’s public critique of Twitter, many former employees of the platform have struggled to secure new job opportunities.”

    Are you somehow blaming Elon for the previous Twitter employees struggling finding new jobs? It might be the worst time right now to be finding a tech job because of all the layoffs.

  3. TelV said on March 8, 2023 at 4:10 pm
    Reply

    Sounds like the US doesn’t have much in the way of employee protections. Musk would never get away with that kind of behaviour in the Netherlands or anywhere else in the EU.

    Musk’s attitude towards former employees especially if they’re disabled like the guy mentioned in this news report demonstrates quite clearly what sort of character he is: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/07/elon-musk-twitter-employee-feud-haraldur-thorleifsson

    1. Anonymous said on March 8, 2023 at 10:12 pm
      Reply

      All you see is an angry, slacker. Musk who has just realized he is of no use to Twitter.

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