Hundreds of Twitter Employees Resign in Response to a New Ultimatum
- Some top Twitter engineers are leaving the firm, raising fears about its stability.
- Musk held a meeting with top employees on Thursday to learn why they wanted to quit the firm.
- The exact number of employees leaving Twitter has not yet been established.
A few weeks after the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, took over Twitter, the outcomes have been far from expected. The billionaire seems to be running his new acquisition with a heavy hand. Aside from a mass layoff of staff, Musk has been accused of fostering a toxic work culture fueled by fear.
The latest drama at the social media firm was said to have begun on Thursday after Musk issued an ultimatum to Twitter employees to work “long hours at high intensity,” or leave. Hundreds of Twitter staff reportedly opted for the latter.
According to reports, hundreds of Twitter employees bid farewell to the company, showing their reluctance to embrace an unexpected cultural shift. Musk has fired Twitter’s top management staff and let go of half of the company’s employees.
Inside sources claim Musk does not take kindly to critical comments on social media or on internal communication mediums such as Slack. The 51-year-old claims he is building “Twitter 2.0,” which supposedly will demand gruesome commitment from employees.
Employees had until 5 p.m. ET on Thursday to commit to the new cause or wave their Twitter career goodbye. A departing employee was reported to have written in a Twitter Slack group,
My watch ends with Twitter 1.0. I do not wish to be part of Twitter 2.0.
Musk met a 7,500-strong staff base when he took over Twitter. But his first purge left the firm half of that size. Twitter reportedly had 2,900 employees before the Thursday ultimatum. The big question on the lips of critics has been, “Is Musk running Twitter?”
Despite the criticism he has received from all corners, Musk seems undisturbed, stating that only “the best people are staying.” The Tesla boss recently claimed Twitter hit a new all-time high in usage. Many have found it baffling how Musk intends to inspire productivity with his latest actions.
A Twitter employee said, “It feels like all the people who made this place incredible are leaving. It will be extremely hard for Twitter to recover from here, no matter how hardcore the people who remain try to be.”
Musk seems to believe Twitter has had a poor work culture and has prioritized correcting that. The billionaire sent a mail to employees this week, emphasizing a change in approach. A part of the mail read,
Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”
According to multiple sources, the social media company also informed workers that it would close its offices and restrict badge access until Monday. One insider claimed security personnel started ejecting several employees from one office on Thursday night.
And just like that, after 12 years, I have left Twitter. I have nothing but love for all my fellow tweeps, past and present. A thousand faces and a thousand scenes are flashing through my mind right now – I love you Twitter and I’ll forever bleed blue 🫡💙
— Satanjeev Banerjee (@satanjeev) November 17, 2022
Many of the engineers responsible for resolving issues and avoiding service interruptions are leaving, which raises concerns about the platform’s stability in light of the personnel losses.
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