Twitter France head Damien Viel quits amid mass layoffs, says 'It's over'

Damien Viel, who confirmed his departure in a separate message to Bloomberg, had led the region for about seven years

Twitter’s head of France announced his departure in a tweet on Sunday ahead of what may be additional layoffs at the embattled platform. 

Damien Viel (pictured), who confirmed his departure in a separate message to Bloomberg, had led the region for about seven years. A number of workers at the Paris office, which had fewer than 50 employees before billionaire Elon Musk took over last month, are focused on advertiser relationships. 

Musk, who’s already slashed Twitter’s workforce in half in sweeping job cuts that included much of the company’s management, is considering additional layoffs to begin as soon as Monday. They’ll likely focus on the sales and partnerships side of the business, people familiar with the matter have said. 

“It’s over. Pride, honor and mission accomplished,” Viel tweeted. 

Viel declined to comment on the circumstances of his departure or how many Twitter employees remain in Paris. 

Following an initial round of cuts, which eliminated about 3,700 jobs at Twitter, Musk sent an email around to employees requiring them to opt in to a “hardcore” culture or accept a severance payment. More employees, particularly those in technical roles, left than expected, creating fears about risks to the company’s operations, people familiar with the matter said previously. 

On Friday, Musk asked the leaders of the sales and marketing and the partnerships teams to agree to cut even more employees, people familiar with the matter had said. The executives, Robin Wheeler and Maggie Suniewick, refused and lost their jobs, the people said. 

Last week, Paris-based fashion house Balenciaga joined other brands in quitting Twitter, deleting its account after Musk acquired the social-media platform and upended content rules. 

Other companies have paused advertising on the platform, including General Motors, Volkswagen, Pfizer and General Mills.

 

In Dublin, it’s Elon Musk versus the housing market

Dublin, the Irish capital where twitter has an office that had about 500 employees, is in the midst of a housing crisis driven by chronic undersupply of new homes and a mass exodus of private landlords. Prices recently topped the peak they reached in 2007, shortly before an economic crash that almost bankrupted the nation. 

Musk’s order prompted complaints on Twitter that it’s impossible to simply move to Dublin and start working from the office. The Twitter CEO clarified in a tweet that employees are allowed to work from home for reasons of logistics, personal matters or “if their manager vouches for excellence.”

Although staff at Dublin’s Twitter office has shrunk by about a third following the recent exodus, the spat is highlighting a growing problem for the Irish economy as it faces the prospect of recession.