Two people who claimed to be Twitter employees, speaking with reporters outside Twitter headquarters ... [+]
On Halloween, the kids get the treats, while the working adults receive all the tricks.
This year’s spooky season offers heads on the chopping block at Twitter, tricksters fooling a CNBC reporter, the most frightening words and actions you don’t want to get from your boss and online ghost job advertisements that trick job seekers into thinking they're real.
Cutting Headcount at Twitter
Frightening rumors abounded as Elon Musk told prospective investors that he would trim Twitter’s headcount by 75% before his $44 billion acquisition was made final. Musk, now the self-appointed “Chief Twit” at Twitter, put his CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett on the chopping block.
Agrawal, Segal, Gadde and Edgett were terminated by Musk “for cause,” which could prohibit the execs from realizing millions of dollars in severance packages and unvested stock awards.
The rank-and-file employees are not immune from the new reign of terror. The New York Times reported that Musk ordered layoffs at the social media company as early as Saturday. By making job cuts before November 1, he could circumvent having to pay employee stock grants.
Musk denies this claim, calling it “false.”
The Two Tech Tricksters
Reporters swarmed the headquarters of Twitter Friday to gauge the mood of employees. CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa interviewed two men, carrying cardboard boxes with belongings, whom she believed to be software engineers. It turned out that the duo were pranksters tricking media outlets into believing they were employees.
Screenshot of Deidre Bosa's now-deleted tweet
One of the jokesters said his name was “Rahul Ligma”—a Gen-Z reference to a popular uncouth internet meme—and held a copy of Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming, aloft while speaking to reporters. The other said his name was “Daniel Johnson,” and told the reporter that he couldn’t keep talking, as he had to go home to his husband and wife.
Frightening Words You Don’t Want To Hear And Scary Actions You Don’t Want Your Boss To Carry Through
- “Can we jump on a quick call?”
- “It’s Sunday night already?”
- Friday afternoon meetings
- “HR would like for you to come to their office.”
- “It’s allergies, not Covid-19.”
- “You have to return to the office.”
- “We’ve hired an outside management consultant to see everyone’s productivity.”
- “No worries; it's just an audit of your department.”
- We’re placing you on a performance improvement plan. I’m sure everything will go well.
- Your boss starts texting, “I’m sorry to bring this up about your bonus, but…”
- “You know how you said you’d like some more free time” So, I have some good and bad news for you.”
Everyone Seems To Be Ghosting Each Other
During the interview process, there has been a disturbing, growing trend of hiring managers, human resources professionals, recruiters and candidates all ghosting one other.
The candidate may lose interest in a job and just bail out of the interview without giving any advance notice. A hiring manager decides that a job seeker does not possess a certain needed skill set, so they stop answering the candidate’s emails and telephone calls. The ghosts feel that by simply ignoring the other party, they’ll soon get the message. Ghosters rationalize their rude behavior by saying, “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. It’s just easier and cleaner this way. I’m sure the other person understands.”
The Paranormal Increase In Ghost Job Listings Online
Recruiters have been aware of the proliferation of phantom jobs posted online for some time. One of the biggest things that depresses job hunters is when they see job listings that perfectly fit their background and excitedly apply to the roles only to then never hear back. This keeps happening.
Over time, you start feeling dejected. You question why companies aren’t inviting you to interviews. Self-doubt creeps in and you start questioning yourself. Thoughts race through your mind, “Did I offend anyone? Could it be that my boss or co-workers said bad things about me and it's been getting around?”
The job description and company are real, and this doesn’t mean it's a scam. Firms list jobs that they have no intention of filling. Companies place phantom jobs to build a pipeline of candidates for the future. Right now, they have no interest in interviewing or hiring a person.
When people quit, the remaining workers need to pick up the slack. They are forced to work longer hours without any pay increase. Then, they start complaining about why the company isn’t actively looking to fill the vacancies. To appease the remaining workers that are dead tired from being overworked, the company places ads without any intention of finding a replacement. They are merely pacifying the working dead.
Interviewers may actually invite people to interview based on the sham job listing. However, there is no intention of hiring the person. The company has someone picked out already. It may be an internal candidate that a senior executive has handpicked for the role. To orchestrate it to seem that the interview process is fair, the unsuspecting applicant doesn’t stand a chance, as the decision was already made and you’re just part of the charade.
