Twitter Begins ...

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorseyis now the company's permanent CEO. Photo: Bloomberg

 

Jack Dorsey is tightening Twitter's belt.


Just days after being named permanent chief executive of Twitter, Dorsey is planning a series of cost-cutting manoeuvres at the social networking company, including layoffs and halting a plan to expand the company's San Francisco's headquarters, according to three people familiar with the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details are private.

The plans to cut back both space and staffing are part of an effort to trim what many insiders see as an organisation that has grown bloated — Twitter has more than 4100 employees in more than 35 offices — over the past few years, these people said.

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment.

The moves, with the layoffs set to come as soon as Tuesday in the US (Wednesday in Australia), signal swift action by Dorsey, who was named permanent chief only on Monday. Dorsey, 38, who also co-founded Twitter, had held the interim chief title since July 1 and has had time to assess the company's prospects, strengths and weaknesses.

He returned to a company in crisis. While Twitter went public in 2013 in a wave of hype, its stock price has more recently fallen — at one point dropping below its $US26 initial public offering price — as the company has struggled to attract new users. Twitter faces intense competition for consumer attention from rivals like Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp, threatening its ability to attract new advertising dollars.

 "Twitter is clearly going through a transition, a new CEO, new products, and this restructuring is another avenue they will need to go down," said Brian Blau, a technology analyst at Gartner. "Reducing costs by reductions is always tough, but a better focus on execution and innovation will help them in the long run."

:Reuters