Elon Musk has given Twitter employees an ultimatum: work in a “high intensity” environment or lose their jobs.
After a wave of layoffs following his acquisition of the company, Musk sent the remaining staffers an email Tuesday night. In the notice, they were instructed to click a link if they wanted to “be a part of the new Twitter.” Employees had until Thursday at 5:00 P.M. eastern time to sign the form and agree to harsh working conditions. Those who failed to do so would be terminated with three months of severance pay.
Musk told Twitter staff that in order to grow the platform into “Twitter 2.0,” staffers would need to be “extremely hardcore,” dedicating themselves to long work hours in likely stressful conditions. The Tesla founder is focused on the engineering of the app, with those related roles making up the majority of his team. Design and product management are being placed on the back burner for now.
Many jobs have been on the line since Musk took over. Just days into his new position, he gutted vital departments. Teams who monitored misinformation on the social media platform were terminated. As of now, nearly 5,000 regular employees and contractors have been let go, with more layoffs likely. In most cases, very little notice was given.
Chaos has also ensued in other facets of the company, including Musk’s unorganized Twitter Blue subscription program, which allows anyone to receive a blue check if they pay a monthly $8 fee. However, the program was quickly suspended following an influx of parody accounts imitating celebrities. The service does not conduct identity verification when issuing the blue checks. Instead, it is a quick money grab as Twitter struggles to keep money flowing, with advertisers stepping away from the tumultuous social media platform.
