Why the resignation of Twitter's entire payroll department matters

Why the resignation of Twitter's entire payroll department matters
28 Nov 2022

The splashy headlines and social media posts about Musk’s decimation of Twitter have been coming at us thick and fast this autumn. It’s all too easy to develop scandal fatigue when every other day seems to bring a new twist to the tale. However, earlier this month one piece of news broke that we must stop to notice.

On November 17, Twitter’s entire payroll department - together with other significant chunks of its financial infrastructure - quit. The loss of the majority of the social network’s payroll professionals could be absorbed by the fast-paced news cycle and the wider soap opera that is currently playing out. But these resignations will be felt.

Anita Lettink wrote an eye-opening post on Linkedin about the shrugging response to Twitter’s payroll loss. The tweets she collated are both a reality check about the wider perception of our industry and a reminder that people do not understand payroll as a function. It involves far more than pushing a button!

Without payroll, everything falls apart. Fast. Payroll is the steady heartbeat of every business, regardless of size, granting every employee the reassurance of accurate and timely pay. Payroll software alone cannot work its way out of the intricate web of pitfalls that the people of payroll overcome each month.

We have spoken on a number of occasions about the ripple effect that payroll striking for a single day could cause. About the mess that would need to be cleaned up afterwards. It is unprecedented for a payroll department to resign en masse. When the dominoes begin to fall at Twitter, Inc. the chain reaction has the potential to be disastrous. 

Payroll is a Career - the GPA’s awareness campaign - was launched to raise the profile of our essential profession. In the coming weeks, after previously approved payments have gone into bank accounts without remark, it may also become apparent that payroll is integral to every career. And for billionaire Elon Musk, payroll could prove priceless.

The splashy headlines and social media posts about Musk’s decimation of Twitter have been coming at us thick and fast this autumn. It’s all too easy to develop scandal fatigue when every other day seems to bring a new twist to the tale. However, earlier this month one piece of news broke that we must stop to notice.

On November 17, Twitter’s entire payroll department - together with other significant chunks of its financial infrastructure - quit. The loss of the majority of the social network’s payroll professionals could be absorbed by the fast-paced news cycle and the wider soap opera that is currently playing out. But these resignations will be felt.

Anita Lettink wrote an eye-opening post on Linkedin about the shrugging response to Twitter’s payroll loss. The tweets she collated are both a reality check about the wider perception of our industry and a reminder that people do not understand payroll as a function. It involves far more than pushing a button!

Without payroll, everything falls apart. Fast. Payroll is the steady heartbeat of every business, regardless of size, granting every employee the reassurance of accurate and timely pay. Payroll software alone cannot work its way out of the intricate web of pitfalls that the people of payroll overcome each month.

We have spoken on a number of occasions about the ripple effect that payroll striking for a single day could cause. About the mess that would need to be cleaned up afterwards. It is unprecedented for a payroll department to resign en masse. When the dominoes begin to fall at Twitter, Inc. the chain reaction has the potential to be disastrous. 

Payroll is a Career - the GPA’s awareness campaign - was launched to raise the profile of our essential profession. In the coming weeks, after previously approved payments have gone into bank accounts without remark, it may also become apparent that payroll is integral to every career. And for billionaire Elon Musk, payroll could prove priceless.

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