The internet and social media spaces have been agog with the news of Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, enforcing a mass layoff at the company. This is the first of Musk’s several plans to restructure the company. He had complained about “overpaying” to acquire the company and planned to cut a chunk of the company’s global workforce to make up for the cost.

There is no official statement on the exact number of staff fired, but projections put the figure at about 3700 or 50 percent of the company’s 7500 global staff. The layoffs were widely anticipated since Musk fired some top executives immediately after acquiring Twitter. Affected people include Parag Agrawal, the former CEO, Ned Segal, the Chief Financial Officer, and Sean Edgett, the general counsel.

The next stop was the various departments’ executives, managers, and staff. Controversies have since trailed the mass layoffs, especially close to the US midterm elections. The staff shortage may cause a delay in screening content being posted on the app and lead to disastrous effects.

Another source of controversy was the format the layoffs took. Employees were given a notice on Thursday evening to stay home on Friday. By keeping the staff out of the offices while waiting for the email to decide their fate, the new administration could curtail any employee leaving with anything from their offices.

The morale was at an all-time low on Friday morning as Twitter staff waited anxiously on what was to come while lending support to one another. Many started to know of their fates from being unable to log into the company’s Slack channel, while others could not access their work email. In the end, it was clear. They received an email on their work account if they were retained and a notice in their personal email if they had been let go.

It is not only the employees at various Twitter offices affected by the company’s change in ownership. The millions of people using the platform will also be affected. Musk has regularly expressed dissatisfaction with how Twitter operates, often offering his takes on how things should be. He is finally ready to make some of those takes a reality.

The first way people are starting to feel the change in ownership at Twitter is by introducing a monthly fee of $8 for verified accounts. Users with the blue tick get to keep their status as verified accounts while enjoying other yet-to-be-disclosed features. Introducing a fee for verified accounts is undoubtedly another plan to recoup some of the $44bn Musk spent accruing the platform.

Many Tweeps may feel unaffected by this as they are not a part of the verified few. However, a monthly fee for retaining verification seems like one of many changes Musk will make after acquiring the popular platform. He will most likely roll out more plans that will affect all Twitter users, and it remains to be seen how that will affect Twitter’s reach.

 After making the biggest acquisition in history, Elon Musk is on track to make the most significant staff cut in the technology industry. The cost of $44 billion is a considerable price for the company, and there is pressure to pay the $13 billion loan he took to acquire the company. However, it seems like the savvy entrepreneur already has plans to recoup his money and make the company profitable.