San Francisco-based Twitter cutting costs by laying off 336 employees

Matt Keller Image
ByMatt Keller KGO logo
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Twitter announces major layoffs to cut costs
Twitter announced major layoffs Tuesday company-wide. The struggling San Francisco-based social media giant is trying to cut costs while attracting new users.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Twitter announced major layoffs Tuesday company-wide. The struggling San Francisco-based social media giant is trying to cut costs while attracting new users.

Keeping a secret is tough in the social media world and news of impending layoffs at Twitter leaked out Friday. On Tuesday, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey made it official.

He tweeted, "Made some tough but necessary decisions that enable Twitter to move with greater focus and reinvest in our growth."

In a letter to employees, Dorsey said, "We plan to part ways with up to 336 people from across the company."

That's 8 percent of its workforce.

Dorsey said product and engineering are going to see the most significant structural changes.

The layoffs come as the company has struggled to increase its users and advertisers have complained Twitter's offerings are less compelling than those of Facebook and Google.

Twitter said it would provide exit packages to the people being laid off and help them find a new job.

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