IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw condemns Musk's decision of laying off 90% of Twitter India employees

On Friday, Twitter undertook massive layoffs across geographies and it was anticipated that over 50% of staff is now gone. Here, in India the picture seems grimmer than ever as over 90% have been forced out of the company, Bloomberg News reported citing people familiar on Monday.

Musk, on Friday justified the sackings in a tweet. He said, “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.”

Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.

Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022

Musk assured that all those who have been laid off were "offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required."

Employees from across the department were laid off including head of communications, operations, content partnerships and more. 

The company employed just over 200 people in India, and the cuts left it with just about a dozen staff, report added.

Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw condemned the decision, Business Standard reported on Sunday. The minister said that the sacked employees should have been given enough time to transition to a new endeavour.  

About the lay offs, Vaishnaw said, “We condemn the way Twitter has sacked employees in India. They should have given the employees a fair time for transition.” 

On Saturday, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey took responsibility and apologised saying, "grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."

Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.

— jack (@jack) November 5, 2022

Meanwhile, about 3,200 employees from around the world have come together to sue Twitter and Musk for wrongful termination.