Twitter has paused most hiring as two of the company’s top executives have said they were asked to leave their jobs.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a company-wide memo, seen by Reuters, that the social media giant would pause most hiring and review all existing job offers to determine whether any “should be pulled back”.

Agrawal’s memo also told staff of the departure of two of the company’s senior staff members.

Kayvon Beykpour, general manager of the consumer product division, and Bruce Falck, revenue product lead, both tweeted that leaving Twitter was not their own decision.

Beykpour said yesterday (12 May) that he was leaving the company after seven years.

Interrupting my paternity leave to share some final @twitter-related news: I’m leaving the company after over 7 years.

— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) May 12, 2022

Falck also thanked his former co-workers for their support during his five-year stint at the company, adding that “building and running these businesses is a team sport”.

He singled out the “unsung heroes” such as the “dedicated IC engineers who seldom see the spotlight or get the recognition they deserve”.

Jay Sullivan will now become head of Beykpour’s former division and will also lead the revenue team temporarily. He had been leading the consumer team while Beykpour was on paternity leave.

In the memo, Agrawal attributed the decision to pause hiring to Twitter not being able to meet previous growth targets. In its most recent earnings, Twitter reported revenue on the lower end of the prediction it made earlier in the year, a figure that fell short of analyst expectations.

“We need to continue to be intentional about our teams, hiring and costs,” Agrawal said in his memo.

The Financial Times reported that Agrawal faced criticism from two of Twitter’s biggest shareholders, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, for a “misalignment between CEO pay and company performance”.

Agrawal may have to defend his $30.4m pay package at the company’s annual meeting later this month, after shareholder advisers recommended voting against his remuneration plan.

The news comes as billionaire Elon Musk is looking to close a $44bn takeover deal. If the deal goes through later this year, Musk will take the social media platform private.

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