While the company hasn’t revealed the specific number of employees laid off in India, India Today Tech learns that around 170 employees out of 250 Twitter India employees have been fired.

By Sneha Saha: Twitter employees have been going through a tough time ever since Elon Musk acquired the company in late October this year. Days after the acquisition, Musk fired half of Twitter’s workforce including many working out of India offices across Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. While the company hasn’t revealed the specific number of employees laid off in India, India Today Tech learns that around 170 employees (including the ones fired and the ones who resigned voluntarily) out of 250 Twitter India employees are not part of the firm any longer. We also learn from our sources that the remaining 80 employees (approx) are having a tough time under Musk’s leadership.

Musk’s rules for India offices seem to be in line with the US offices, however, a source told India Today Tech that the situation in India isn’t as bad as it is in the San Francisco office. For all Indian employees and also for staff in other markets, Musk has removed “Days of Rest” wherein one Monday of every month used to be a holiday. This is the first of other benefits that the billionaire has cut for employees.

Additionally, soon after the mass layoffs happened in November, employees in India received an email stating that the pantry, which offered free snacks, would be shut. So, Twitter India employees get no free snacks anymore. A similar rule is followed at the company’s HQ in the US. However, the source said that the pantry service was impacted in November, now whether the service is back on track or not is something unrevealed for now.

The new Twitter boss has also asked all employees in India to return to office. “Work culture has changed drastically since Elon took charge,” the person who is aware of happenings inside the Twitter India office told India Today Tech. Another change that Musk has brought about in the work culture is to set daily work timings, which the source said wasn’t the case earlier. “There were no work timings before. People are working a lot for sure, especially engineers,” the source said.

We also learn that the work conditions in India aren’t as stressful as they are at Twitter HQ. But, engineers working out of India offices are having a tough time and even working on weekends when Musk demands.

Twitter India engineers are among the most impacted ones under Musk’s “hardcore” work culture. Most of the engineers working out of India are required to push features at speed and have random code reviews at odd hours. “Sometimes they have to work on the weekends too because Elon pushes for it,” the person told India Today Tech.

The source also said that all laid-off Twitter employees in India are getting salaries on time but the company hasn’t revealed any official details related to severance pay yet. The impacted employees are, however, hopeful of getting their dues on time.

Latest reports from the US suggest that Musk’s team is weighing the possibility of not paying the severance at all as a part of cost-cutting measures. Meanwhile, starting mid-Jan 2023, the company is currently planning to auction furniture, kitchen appliances, and many other things present at Twitter HQ to save money and build what Musk calls — Twitter 2.0.