Twitter planning 'company-wide layoffs'

Jack Dorsey was recently made the social media giant's permanent chief executive

Twitter logo is displayed at the entrance of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco (KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/Getty Images)

Twitter is rumoured to be poised to announce company-wide layoffs, as the platform fights to remain relevant in the competitive world of social media.

Jack Dorsey, who is days into his tenure as the permanent chief executive of Twitter, is planning to implement cost-cutting procedures including layoffs, sources familiar with the plans told the New York Times.

If the reports are proven, the axe would fall on an undetermined number of Twitter’s 4,100 employees across 35 offices which serve as proof that the firm has become bloated, the sources said.

Those on teams including engineering and media are understood to be among those at risk.

Plans to expand the company’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, are also set to be scrapped, the sources added.

The alleged downsizing will come after Mr Dorsey expressed concerns with the growth of its audience as he announced second quarter financial results, Forbes reported.

A Twitter spokeswoman told The Independent: “We’re not commenting on rumor and speculation.”

Mr Dorsey, 38, was a co-founder of Twitter, and has returned to the company at the start of 1 July when he took over as its interim head.

He is now tasked with dealing with the shrinking excitement surrounding the company.

The rise and fall of the cost of Twitter shares

November 2013: $26

January 2014: $69

August 2015: $25 - $30

The platform has struggled to maintain its buzz, as its stock has dropped from the high of $69 on 3 January 2014, almost three months it made its stock market debut, to between $25 and $30 since the start of August 2015.

In that time, competing apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat have risen in popularity.

"Twitter is clearly going through a transition, a new C.E.O., new products, and this restructuring is another avenue they will need to go down,” Brian Blau, a technology analyst at Gartner, told the New York Times.

Following his appointment, Mr Dorsey tweeted suggested that Twitter is working on new projects to make the service "really great".