Elon Musk made significant job cuts at Twitter shortly after taking control of the social media platform. However, he has now admitted that the cuts were too deep and stated that the company will attempt to rehire some of the 6,300 employees who were let go.

As Elon Musk aimed to cut costs and improve the company's financial status, he reduced Twitter's workforce from 7,800 to roughly 1,500 employees, representing an 80% reduction. 

However, during an interview with CNBC anchor David Faber at the 2023 Tesla annual shareholder meeting held in Austin, Texas, Musk admitted that some of the employees who were laid off should not have been, as reported by Variety. “Some people who were let go probably shouldn’t have been,” Musk said. 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures… Unfortunately, if you do it fast, there are some babies who will be thrown out,” Musk added. Twitter is likely to make efforts to rehire some of the employees who were previously laid off.

Elon Musk also talked about the recent appointment of Linda Yaccarino, the former NBCUniversal executive, as the CEO of Twitter. He mentioned that Linda would be responsible for operating the company, while his focus would be on building products.

“Twitter is very much an advertising-dependent business, and Linda is obviously great at that. My skills and interests are in technology,” Musk said, according to Variety. 

Yaccarino will assume leadership of business operations at Twitter, specifically overseeing ad sales, while Musk will retain his roles as executive chair and CTO. In his capacity as CTO, Musk will continue to be responsible for overseeing product development, software, and system operations. 

Musk described the company's severe financial predicament, stating that when the Twitter deal was finalised, they faced an extremely difficult situation. He revealed that the company experienced a negative cash flow of $3 billion and had only $1 billion in available cash. 

Following the resistance from Twitter's board regarding Musk's takeover attempt, they resorted to legal action to enforce the conditions of his offer. The billionaire likened this situation to having a metaphorical gun pointed at his head, with the board insisting that he must acquire their company.

On the other hand, the billionaire has implemented new protocols within Tesla. Under the recent directive issued by him, any prospective new hires, including contractors, must obtain his personal endorsement before being approved. 

According to Reuters, Musk has instructed executives to furnish him with a weekly list of hiring requests, emphasising the importance of thorough evaluation before forwarding them.