Elon Musk provoked the dismissal of hundreds of Twitter employees with an ultimatum about ‘hard work’ – now he is persuading them to stay and is no longer against remote work
Musk faced another crisis at Twitter — after an ultimatum about “tough working conditions”, hundreds of employees decided to leave the company.
Previously, Twitter CEO Elon Musk asked employees to sign an online form pledging to “work long hours at high intensity.” If employees ignore it, they will be fired and will receive severance pay in 3 months.
As it turned out, a large number of employees did not agree with the management’s proposal. The New York Times said the number was in the “hundreds,” while earlier reports from other media outlets suggested it could be much higher.
Those layoffs come after Musk has already cut 50% of full-time and 80% of freelance staff, as well as some employees who were critical of him.
Meanwhile, ex-employees of the company are sharing farewell messages on Twitter. The social network published a video of a group of employees in the Twitter office counting down the time until the deadline for fulfilling Musk’s ultimatum.
It’s been a ride pic.twitter.com/0VDf5hn2UA
— Matt Miller (@brainiaq2000) November 17, 2022
‘We will all be fired soon,’ comments one of the employees.
Others posted tweets alluding to Musk’s politics. In his Wednesday morning message, Musk said that only ‘exceptional performance’ would be the passing grade for his continued work at Twitter:
I may be #exceptional 💁🏼♀️, but gosh darn it, I’m just not #hardcore 🧟♀️#lovewhereyouworked pic.twitter.com/7kLjpmSSzF
— Cheesehead in SF 🧀 (@andreachorst) November 17, 2022
That 5p release from the strict meritocracy #lovewhereyouworked pic.twitter.com/OEE8zNogI3
— Joan De Jesús (@JoanSDeJesus) November 17, 2022
As the deadline for filling out online forms loomed, Musk himself reportedly began to worry about how many employees would remain at the company. Bloomberg reports that Elon recruited some executives to ‘convince employees to stay’ with the company.
Also, The Verge writes that Elon, who previously banned remote work on Twitter (with exceptions that required his personal approval), now noted that it is still possible.
‘When it comes to remote work, all that’s required for approval is for your manager to take responsibility for making a worthwhile contribution,’ Musk wrote in a new memo to Twitter employees.
He added that the teams should meet in person at least once a month, although weekly meetings would be ‘ideal.’
While allowing remote work may seem like a victory for Twitter employees, who have been enjoying the “work from anywhere” option for more than two years now, Musk has made it clear that he is willing to punish managers specifically for remote employees who do not live up to expectations.
‘Any manager who tells a lie about how a subordinate performed a job, whether remote or not, will be fired from the company,’ he wrote.
A Twitter lawyer recently told other employees that Musk’s demand that employees show up to the office or be fired was illegal. Now, at least one person is testing that claim in court. In the lawsuit, the employee claims that Twitter’s CEO’s new policy discriminates against employees with disabilities.
Another round of layoffs raises new questions about whether the remaining engineers will be able to reliably keep Twitter running. Current and former employees are already suggesting that the latest exodus could further jeopardize the social network’s operations, especially with the World Cup kicking off in a few days.
