Twitter’s former
employees in Africa say they have not received their severance pay despite
being laid off seven months ago.
A source confirmed the development to TheCable on Monday.
Last year, Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman, acquired
the microblogging platform and began
a series of layoffs which affected thousands of workers.
In November 2022, Twitter laid off many of its employees in Africa — just days after
the company opened a physical office in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The source said the team had, in May 2023, accepted
Twitter’s offer to pay them three months worth of severance.
The source said the team agreed to accept the cost of
repatriating foreign staff and legal expenses incurred during negotiations with
the company.
According to the source, the team reluctantly agreed to the
severance package without benefits even though it was less than what their
colleagues elsewhere received.
The source, however, lamented that the employees have not
received the money or any further communication in the last two months.
CNN reported that Carla Olympio, an
attorney representing the former employees, said the last communication from
Twitter or its lawyers was in May, shortly after settlement was agreed.
Speaking to the news channel, a former Twitter Africa
employee, said: “They literally ghosted us. Although Twitter has eventually
settled former staff in other locations, Africa staff have still been left in
the lurch despite us eventually agreeing to specific negotiated terms.”
“Twitter was non-responsive until we agreed to the three
months because we were all so stressed and exhausted and tired of the
uncertainty, reluctant to take on the extra burdens of a court case so we felt
we had no choice but to settle,” another former employee told CNN.
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