• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Tech

Thousands of former Twitter employees are set to receive severance agreements today, months after they were laid off

Kylie Robison
By
Kylie Robison
Kylie Robison
Down Arrow Button Icon
Kylie Robison
By
Kylie Robison
Kylie Robison
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 5, 2023, 3:32 PM ET
Twitter CEO Elon Musk waving, wearing a black leather jacket and tshirt.
Former Twitter employees are set to receive their severance agreements today, according to a source familiar with the matter.Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Former Twitter employees are set to finally receive their official severance agreements on Thursday after months of waiting and uncertainty, according to a person familiar with the matter and screenshots viewed by Fortune.

After Elon Musk took over the social media giant in late October, he made several sweeping changes which included laying off roughly three-fourths of the company’s staff of 7,500 in a series of cuts. Musk said in a tweet in November that affected employees would get “3 months of severance pay.” But many laid off employees have been left waiting to receive their official severance agreements, raising worries among some about what compensation, if any, the company would ultimately provide.

“I was laid off 2 months ago with thousands of coworkers, and I’ve never even seen a severance letter let alone been offered severance,” former Twitter employee Sam Stryker tweeted this week. The New York Times reported in December that Twitter was considering not paying severance packages to laid off employees amid Musk’s frantic efforts to save money.

According to the person familiar with the matter, the severance agreements being distributed on Thursday provide for laid off employees in the U.S. to receive one month of base pay as severance. Owing to conditions of the federal WARN Act, which requires employers to give a 60-day notice before mass layoffs, Twitter employees let go in November have been kept on the payroll and have received their regular salaries for the past 60 days. While those employees have been cut off from the company’s internal systems since November, they were officially terminated on Jan. 4, per regulatory requirements.

As many as 5,500 laid off Twitter employees are set to receive the official severance agreements, the source said.

A draft copy of the severance agreement viewed by Fortune explains that if the employee accepts the terms in the agreement, they will waive their right to partake in the three pending lawsuits against Twitter filed by former employees. The three lawsuits (Cornet v. Twitter, Borodaenko v. Twitter, and Strifling v. Twitter) all seek class action status.

The agreement also bars former employees from discussing the terms of the agreement or making any negative statements about the company or its leadership team, a fairly standard stipulation in severance agreements.

A variety of factors may have caused the apparent delay in distributing the severance agreements, including court motions related to employee lawsuits. According to Bloomberg, a judge ruled last month that Twitter must inform laid off workers in the severance agreements about the pending lawsuits filed by other former employees.

Many of Twitter’s internal operations have been thrown into disarray as a result of the deep cost cutting, including within Twitter’s human resources department, as well as the chaotic management since Musk acquired the company for $44 billion last year.

This month marks the departure of some HR employees who agreed to help with the transition, according to the New York Times; most recently joining them was the departing Katie Marcotte, a 10-year Twitter employee and the company’s acting head of human resources.

Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter examines how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s executives. Subscribe here.

About the Author
Kylie Robison
By Kylie Robison
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

robots
InnovationRobots
‘The question is really just how long it will take’: Over 2,000 gather at Humanoids Summit to meet the robots who may take their jobs someday
By Matt O'Brien and The Associated PressDecember 12, 2025
11 hours ago
Man about to go into police vehicle
CryptoCryptocurrency
Judge tells notorious crypto scammer ‘you have been bitten by the crypto bug’ in handing down 15 year sentence 
By Carlos GarciaDecember 12, 2025
12 hours ago
three men in suits, one gesturing
AIBrainstorm AI
The fastest athletes in the world can botch a baton pass if trust isn’t there—and the same is true of AI, Blackbaud exec says
By Amanda GerutDecember 12, 2025
12 hours ago
Brainstorm AI panel
AIBrainstorm AI
Creative workers won’t be replaced by AI—but their roles will change to become ‘directors’ managing AI agents, executives say
By Beatrice NolanDecember 12, 2025
12 hours ago
Fei-Fei Li, the "Godmother of AI," says she values AI skills more than college degrees when hiring software engineers for her tech startup.
AITech
‘Godmother of AI’ says degrees are less important in hiring than how quickly you can ‘superpower yourself’ with new tools
By Nino PaoliDecember 12, 2025
15 hours ago
C-SuiteFortune 500 Power Moves
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Which executives gained and lost power this week
By Fortune EditorsDecember 12, 2025
15 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Tariffs are taxes and they were used to finance the federal government until the 1913 income tax. A top economist breaks it down
By Kent JonesDecember 12, 2025
21 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake for $800 in 1976—today it’d be worth up to $400 billion
By Preston ForeDecember 12, 2025
17 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
At 18, doctors gave him three hours to live. He played video games from his hospital bed—and now, he’s built a $10 million-a-year video game studio
By Preston ForeDecember 10, 2025
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
40% of Stanford undergrads receive disability accommodations—but it’s become a college-wide phenomenon as Gen Z try to succeed in the current climate
By Preston ForeDecember 12, 2025
16 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Palantir cofounder calls elite college undergrads a ‘loser generation’ as data reveals rise in students seeking support for disabilities, like ADHD
By Preston ForeDecember 11, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
For the first time since Trump’s tariff rollout, import tax revenue has fallen, threatening his lofty plans to slash the $38 trillion national debt
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 12, 2025
12 hours ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.