X, which was formerly known as Twitter,is said to have finally paid off the staff it sacked in its African headquarters more than a year ago after they were laid off, the agency representing them said.
According to the Agency,it revealed that most of the staff laid off where only a few months old on the job, which is based in Accra,Ghana’s Capital when the social media platform sacked them in 2022.
The fired staff had previously threatened to take X (formerly twitter) to court for failing to pay the redundancy money they were promised.
Meanwhile,the company refused to comment as X has previously stated that it had paid off all its ex-employees in full.
Elon Musk, who took over the company in 2022, embarked on a massive laying off of employees, which resulted in more than 6,000 people losing their Jobs.
According to him he was losing more than $4m (£3.5m) a day.
The African contingent, who number fewer than 20, had only just moved into X’s new office in Accra, following about eight months of working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile,the company providing legal representation to the staff, Agency Seven Seven stated that it had been successful in its quest to get a redundancy settlement and repatriation expenses for foreign staff, although it did not specify the amount of the pay-out.
“They are very pleased to finally be able to get their due, put this behind them and look to the future,” Carla Olympio from Agency Seven Seven told the BBC.
Last year, sacked staffers told the BBC their treatment by X had harmed their mental health and their finances.
According to one of the sacked staff,he said “It’s difficult when it’s the world’s richest man owing you money and closure,” one said.
They said they were initially told that, although their contracts were being terminated, they would be paid to work for one more month. But they were immediately locked out of their emails and no further salary payments were made.
Since then, the staff said they had been involved in a frustrating battle for compensation.
Some of them had moved from neighbouring countries, such as Nigeria. Their contract termination meant they were left stranded in Ghana, along with their families.
In a rare interview last April, Mr Musk told the BBC that the social media giant had 1,500 employees, down from the just under 8,000 who were employed at the time he bought the company.
When the news of Mr Musk’s radical staff cull became public, he tweeted that laid-off employees were given three months’ severance pay.
But the staff based in the Africa office say they did not receive this.
According to Agency Seven Seven, X only began negotiations with the sacked Africa staff after the BBC covered the story.
Last year, X was hit by a lawsuit, filed by ex-employees in a California court, for allegedly refusing to pay at least $500m in promised severance packages.
