Twitter Upheaval Hits Diversity Ranks in Setback of Recent Gains
Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter Inc. and mass layoffs at the company stand to bring major setbacks for diversity and inclusion at the social-media platform.
In his first week as owner, the billionaire fired Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, who had been a supporter of Twitter's employee resource groups, and rolled back a “work from anywhere” policy that opened the company up to more diverse areas of the country. Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand tweeted this week that she resigned the day Musk took over.
The firings of about half of the staff on Friday also may hit hard: The leaders of several of Twitter's diversity-focused groups were part of the job cuts, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the full effects of the layoffs are unclear — Twitter didn't respond to a request for comment on its diversity and inclusion efforts as the situation was unfolding — employees took to the platform on Friday to share that they lost jobs. Shannon Raj Singh, who had worked as human rights counsel, said the entire human rights team had been cut. One manager said his engineering team for accessibility experience, which works on features to improve the platform's use for people with disabilities, was also eliminated. Read about how Twitter's cuts are sparking concern about the US midterms and human rights
Twitter posted significant gains in the number of Black and Latinx workers in 2021, in part because of its remote-work flexibility. The company's employee resource groups, such as Twitter Women and Blackbirds, which represents Black workers, were so important to diversity efforts that Agrawal remained a sponsor of the parent-focused group even after he succeeded Jack Dorsey as CEO.
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