X, formerly known as Twitter, reached an agreement with its only African office's laid-off employees after approximately a year of negotiations.
The staff in Accra, Ghana, were terminated in November 2022, shortly after the acquisition of the company by US entrepreneur Elon Musk. The employees initiated discussions with the social network following their lawyers' request for compliance with local redundancy legislation.
“Agency Seven Seven has successfully led negotiations on behalf of former staff members of Twitter Ghana Ltd. in their quest to get a fair settlement and repatriation expenses for foreign staff,” the Accra-based firm, which represented 11 former employees, said in a statement.
Approximately one year after the establishment of the Accra office, Musk, who purchased the X for $44 billion in October 2022, terminated almost all members of the African team as a part of sweeping cuts, eliminating a department that was considered integral to Twitter's future.
The first termination letter stated that the employees would be given a one-month notice period without any mention of severance pay. A subsequent letter improved the terms to one month's notice plus two months' severance package. But this was still less than the three-month severance proposal Musk tweeted in November 2022.
The first termination letter stated that the employees would be given a one-month notice period without any mention of severance pay. A subsequent letter improved the terms to one month's notice plus two months' severance package. But this was still less than the three-month severance proposal Musk tweeted in November 2022.
However, despite a long legal battle, former employee of Twitter Ghana, Norvisi Sokpe Ndon, said that the staff's experience should serve as a lesson for others “to be brave enough to stand up for themselves, no matter who they are going up against and no matter how long it takes.”
While X got rid of real people, the Kenyan government is reportedly willing to remove 20,000 ghost workers from its payroll with the help of the new Unified Human Resource system, as these Fictitious Employees cost Kenya Sh 5.7 billion (around $40.3 million).