Troubled Twitter Gives Staff Stock Bonus To Stay

Troubled Twitter is trying to halt a talent brain drain by giving employees stock bonuses of up to $200,000 to each staff member.

The social media company has been offering restricted stock packages to workers across the company - ranging from high-level executives to junior employees.

The payments range from $50,000 to $200,000 as an incentive for employees to stay for another six months to a year.

Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) 's stock price has fallen by about 60% in the past year amid fears over stalled user growth.

But the perks pale in comparison to a recent pay deal for three top executives at the firm, who were given a combined $55.4m pay rise in a restructure.

Other struggling Silicon Valley companies have made similar moves to keep staff sweet, with the likes of LinkedIn also beefing up employee equity packages.

Not long after returning to the helm of the company he helped create, Jack Dorsey promised to give a third of his stock to the company's employee equity pool.

That still needs to be approved by shareholders, and is separate to the latest round of employee incentive payments.

Mr Dorsey cut 8% of staff in October last year as the company narrowed its focus.

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) morale dropping, several staff members defected to workplace software maker Slack and ride-hailed app Lyft.

Stock hit and all-time low of $14.31 in February, from a high of $69 in January 2014. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) currently stands at around $17.50.