"If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home," Twitter said Twitter employees have initiated a class lawsuit as new CEO Elon Musk initiates his plan to cut thousands of jobs. The social media giant communicated to its employees through email that there would be layoffs on Friday while temporarily closing its offices and preventing staff access. This development concludes what has been a week of uncertainty about the company’s future under new owner Elon Musk. Twitter informed employees via email that it would notify workers of staff reductions by Friday at 9 a.m. Pacific time (12 p.m. EDT/5:00 pm GMT+1). “We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward,” the email said. After completing his $44 billion acquisition of the ‘bird app’ late last week, Musk was said to be planning to slash the 7,500 employees on the company’s workforce to reduce costs and impose a demanding new work ethic. According to the email, Twitter said that its offices would be temporarily closed and all badge access suspended “to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data.” The company said employees who were not affected by the layoffs would be notified via their work email addresses. Staff who had been laid off would be notified with next steps to their personal email addresses, the memo said. “If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home,” Twitter said in the email on Thursday. See full statement: Twitter employees will find out if they’re out of a job in the worst possible way – via email. Oh, and don’t bother coming to the office because your badge is disabled! Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) November 4, 2022 According to reports from CNBC, a Twitter employee said Thursday’s email was the first communication staff members had received from Twitter since the acquisition on Oct. 27. “It’s total chaos, house melting down, everyone looking towards this email,” the employee said. Read also: 5 likely changes to expect as Elon Musk takeover at Twitter Musk’s planned layoff taking off Before the takeover transaction was finalized, concerns about layoffs started to surface. However, Twitter’s general counsel cautioned staff members not to focus on speculations. And although some of the staff were ready and willing to be laid off and get their severance, others were scared of Musk’s antics, which could result in a disagreement. “At the end of this nightmare, I better get a cash prize,” a Twitter employee said. Some employees even tweeted their access to the company’s IT system had been blocked and feared whether that suggested they had been laid off. A particular employee tweeted her working journey with the company and expressed satisfaction. Release ya job, release the time 🫡💙 After >2.5 years, my journey at Twitter is finally over. I'm incredibly proud of everything I was able to achieve in that time. I got promoted to Senior SWE, became a Tech Lead for Search and a lead for @Blackbirds BE@T.#LoveWhereYouWorked moyin 🇳🇬 (@moyheen) November 4, 2022 See more reactions. Tweeps are just hanging out in Slack saying nice things to each other until their access is cut off. I’ve never seen anything like it. Some really incredible people leaving Twitter tonight. We are all worse off without them there Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 4, 2022 Meanwhile, Twitter’s employees claimed in a class action lawsuit that the firm engaging in mass layoffs violates federal and California law by failing to give the requisite 60 days’ notice. The lawsuit also requested a court order barring Twitter from asking fired employees to sign paperwork without first alerting them that the case was still pending. On Thursday, Cornet v. Twitter Inc., 22-cv-06857, was filed at the United States District Court, Northern District of California (San Fr...