Elon Musk issues an ultimatum to Twitter employees, leading to a wave of departures

Published on : 18/11/2022 – 04:41

New Twitter owner and boss Elon Musk has issued an ultimatum to Twitter employees, asking them to commit to “working long hours at high intensity” or resign by Thursday. Many of them chose to take the door.

The day following an ultimatum from Elon Musk, departures multiplied at Twitter, Thursday, November 17. For now, it is difficult to quantify the proportion of resignations. The social network’s new general manager asked employees who survived the first wave of layoffs – half of the group’s 7,500 employees have already been made redundant two weeks ago – to choose between giving “all out, unconditionally”, and leaving.

“I may be exceptional, but (…) I am not unconditional”, tweeted in response to the ultimatum Andrea Horst, whose LinkedIn profile still displays “Supply chain manager (survivor) at Twitter”. She added the hashtag “#lovewhereyouworked”, that is to say “Love the place where you worked”, like many other employees announcing their choice.

According to Zoë Schiffer, journalist for the specialized media Platformer, Twitter warned all employees on Thursday followingnoon that the offices were temporarily closed and inaccessible, even with a badge.

Wednesday, Elon Musk, owner and boss of Twitter for three weeks, asked individual employees of the social network to commit to “working long hours at high intensity”, “to build a revolutionary Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world. “. “Only an exceptional performance will be worth a sufficient mark,” he said in this internal letter consulted by AFP.

Employees had until Thursday followingnoon to click on the “yes” box, under penalty of having to leave Twitter with compensation corresponding to three months’ salary.

Tweeps Farewell

A method that clashes even with United Stateswhere labor law is less protective of employees than in many developed countries.

“I have no words, I’m just grateful to say that I managed to get my dream job and accomplish more than I ever thought possible. It’s been a great adventure,” said tweeted Deanna Hines-Glasgow, who was director of customer relations at Twitter, on Thursday, according to her LinkedIn profile. It is defined as “Ex Tweep”, the nickname of Twitter employees, and “Blackbird”, the name of the support group for African-American employees of the Californian company.

“To all the Tweeps who have decided that today will be their last day: thank you for being amazing colleagues through the ups and downs. I can’t wait to see what you do next,” he said. side said Esther Crawford, director of product development for the platform, one of the few managers who has neither resigned nor been fired, and who still publicly supports the new leader.

Elon Musk is said to have met with company executives to convince them to stay, said an employee and a person who recently quit but has maintained contacts within the social network.

With AFP and Archyde.com