Twitter is trying to quell employees’ fears as Elon Musk’s looming takeover of the company fuels worries about a seismic overhaul of the social media service — but its assurances may only go so far.

For months, Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter has roiled the company’s 7,500 employees as the billionaire made pronouncements about how he would change the service and then tried to back out of the deal. Now, with his takeover back on track and set to close no later than next Friday, disquiet inside the company has intensified.

Workers’ fears were stoked on Thursday when The Washington Post reported that Musk planned to cut Twitter’s staff by as much as 75 per cent, reducing its workforce to a little over 2,000 people.

Late on Thursday, Twitter tried to calm some of the concerns. In a memo to employees after the report of job cuts, Sean Edgett, the general counsel, said there were no plans for layoffs.