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Twitter employees in Singapore are anticipating getting laid off, with news coming in as early as midnight Saturday. Nov. 5, Singapore time (9am, Friday, Nov. 4 Pacific time).

Some 3,700 out of 7,500 jobs are expected to be axed worldwide.

In a memo sent to staff as seen by major news outlets worldwide, Twitter said employees not affected by the layoffs will be notified via their work email addresses.

Those employees who have been laid off will be notified via personal email with details on next steps to take, the memo said.

Staff will not be allowed into office

During the process of letting staff go, Twitter will also be temporarily closing its offices and preventing staff access.

All badge access will be suspended, staff have been informed, in order "to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data".

These major moves are occurring barely a week after new owner Elon Musk took over the company for US$44 billion and has immediately demanded deep cost cuts and imposed an aggressive new work ethic across the board.

"In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday," an email sent to staff said, according to Reuters.

Singapore Twitter staff speak out

Twitter staff who spoke to CNA on condition of anonymity slammed Musk and the laying off process.

One staff said: "I’d characterise the manner in which this entire situation was handled as impersonal, unprofessional and hasty."

However, the staff also added that there is finally a sense of closure now that the layoffs will come to pass.

Change in almost everything

Musk has been busy putting Twitter on a different course.

He has tasked teams to find up to US$1 billion in annual infrastructure cost savings, Reuters reported.

Managers have also reportedly not been allowed to communicate with staff or call for meetings, a senior staff shared with Reuters, and they were being monitored.

Employees are not informed about the changes in the company and resort to inferring by observing work calendars and screenshots of discussions from managers.

"It feels like we're working among the Gestapo," they said to Reuters.

Musk has fired its chief executive and top finance and legal executives.

Other senior workers have also resigned or laid off throughout the past week.

In light of the job cuts, many employees are scrambling to find other jobs, and international employees worry about the status of their visas.

On Blind, an anonymous community app for professionals to vent in a safe space, a Twitter employee shared that "it's worse than everything you're reading"

"Much worse."

Twitter has 7,500 employees from San Francisco to Singapore.

Musk looks set to axe about half of his staff, according to information shared by current and former employees to Reuters.

However, the email does not detail how many staff will be affected, and the number could change.

According to sources that spoke to Reuter, after the email reached the employees' inboxes, hundred flooded the company's Slack, a messaging platform, to say goodbye.

Someone even invited Musk to join.

Change in corporate culture

Twitter is known for its open corporate culture, but employees have seen shifts in the work environment.

For example, Twitter gave its employees monthly days off, also known as "Days of Rest", for employees to rest and recharge.

However, two people informed the New York Times that those rest days were removed from their calendars.

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