People should not be surprised at new Twitter CEO Elon Musk's treatment of workers amid mass layoffs.

That is according to Labour Senator Marie Sherlock, the party's spokesperson on workers' rights.

She said that the dangers of large companies operating without unions has been highlighted by Twitter's actions in letting go of half the company's workforce over the last few days.

Its new owner, Mr Musk, has received backlash for his handling of the changeover, with many employees finding themselves suddenly locked out of buildings and email accounts before being informed they had been laid off.

"The manner in which people were informed yesterday of their jobs being lost was absolutely outrageous", said Senator Sherlock.

"I think we are all absolutely appalled at the manner in which Twitter have treated their workers."

'Not surprised'

Senator Sherlock has said that serious questions must now be asked about how legal the action is, in light of Ireland's employment law.

"I don't think many of us should be surprised though."

"Many of the big tech companies have been anti-union and we now understand why."

Twitter could be "sailing close to the wind" legally by deciding to cull half it's global workforce in this manner.

"I think there are very serious questions now for the government in terms of ensuring that the laws of this land are actually complied with, with regards to collective redundancy."

Simon Balmain learnt he was losing his job in the UK on Thursday night and told Newstalk that it's been an emotional rollercoaster for staff.

"It really has been difficult for people to really stay focused. not knowing what's going to happen", he said.

"I personally try to keep my head down and focus on the work, but it's definitely been incredibly distracting over the last few months."

'Appalling'

The treatment of workers at Twitter has been 'appalling', the head of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has said.

Owen Reidy told The Hard Shoulder there are better ways to do this.

"Redundancies tragically are part of the world of work, and they happen, but I think the manner in which this has happened has been appalling."

"It reminds me very much of a similar approach that P&O Ferries took just over a year ago", he said.

"Everybody pretty much condemned them, where people were given very little notice, it was done in a very disarming and undermining manner and people were made to feel quite isolated."

"I think we've seen this pretty much play out today."

Main image shows Labour Senator Marie Sherlock on the plinth at Dáil Éireann. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland