Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake. Others were let go before management had realised that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the report said citing people familiar with the moves.

Twitter recently laid off 50% of its employees, including employees on the trust and safety team, the company’s head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth said in a tweet earlier this week.

Tweets by staff of the social media company said teams responsible for communications, content curation, human rights, and machine learning ethics were among those gutted, as were some product and engineering teams.

Twitter yesterday updated its app in Apple’s App Store to begin charging US$8 for sought-after blue check verification marks, in Musk’s first major revision of the social media platform.

Twitter did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.