Twitter to cut up to 8% of workforce in bid to sharpen focus

Jack Dorsey has outlined job-cut plans a week after being named Twitter Inc.’s chief executive officer, saying the move is aimed at getting products out the door more swiftly. Twitter will eliminate as many as 336 positions, or about 8% of its global workforce, the San Francisco-based company said in a filing. Most of the affected positions will be in the product and engineering departments. Twitter has struggled with bloat in the groups, resulting in overlapping tasks and goals, which created a culture of indecision and made it harder for the company to move quickly, former employees have said. Dorsey, a co-founder of the company, has pledged to make Twitter more accessible. While hardcore users cherish its rapid-fire, text-heavy format, others find the service impenetrable and confusing. As a result, many sign up and then drop out, hampering Twitter’s growth and long-term prospects. The company is working to improve its product, making it easier for people to join and understand how to find good content. “We feel strongly that engineering will move much faster with a smaller and nimbler team, while remaining the biggest percentage of our workforce,” Dorsey, who had been interim CEO since June, wrote in a letter included in the filing. Twitter shares rose 1.1%t to $29.06 (AED106.73) at the close Tuesday in New York, leaving the stock down 19% this year. (By Sarah Frier/Bloomberg)