Amid layoffs and a severe cost-cutting, Twitter has closed offices in Delhi and Mumbai and asked staff to work from home, according to sources. The micro-blogging platform’s Bangalore office, which largely has engineering staff, remains operational, the sources said.

The Delhi and Mumbai offices were shut down a few weeks ago, with remaining staff now working from home, sources privy to the matter said. However, the number of employees affected by the move could not be immediately ascertained. A mail sent to Twitter on the issue did not elicit a response.

The closure of the two offices in key locations in India comes as the platform has initiated a massive cost-cutting drive globally, after billionaire Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter last year.

The firm downsized from more than 7,000 people to 2,300 active employees across the globe —the mass-layoffs began with the firing of CEO Parag Agrawal as well as the CFO and many other high-ranking leaders last year.

In the retrenchments that followed, Twitter fired the majority of its over 200 employees in India as well. Only a handful were spared as layoffs culled roles across engineering, sales and marketing, and communications teams.

Google layoffs

Google has started its layoffs in India. The Internet search giant has reportedly told more than 400 of its employees in India to leave. The affected employees have been told by email not to come to work last night.

Last month, Google’s parent Alphabet Inc said is was cutting about 12,000 jobs as it faced “a different economic reality”, doubling down on artificial intelligence and axing staff who support experimental projects.

The job cuts affect 6 per cent of its workforce, and follows thousands of layoffs at tech giants, including Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, which are downsizing after a pandemic-led hiring spree left them flabby in a weak economy.