Elon Musk’s firing spree continues, as an estimated 4,400 of its 5,500 contract workers were suddenly terminated over the weekend.

The workers, a number of which were based in India, discovered they had been let go after they were unable to access work systems such as email and Slack.

Fulltime Twitter employees, who were working on projects with the contractors, were also left in the dark regarding the firings.

It seems Elon Musk hasn’t softened his blunt nature since the first round of layoffs, in which 3,700 employees learned of their fates via emails.

“Team, in an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday,” the initial email to staff read.

“We recognise that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.

“We acknowledge this is an incredibly challenging experience to go through, whether or not you are impacted.

“We are grateful for your contributions to Twitter and for your patience as we move through this process.”

This way of culling staff was seen as particularly heartless, especially when signed off simply as being from ‘Twitter’.

Over the weekend, Jack Dorsey commented on the Twitter firings for the first time.

“Folks at Twitter, past and present, are strong and resilient,” Dorsey wrote. “They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realise many are angry with me.

“I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologise for that.”